Translation and travel grants: update 2025

From this year onwards, foreign publishers can apply for financial assistance to cover at least 70% of the translator’s fee. Publishers of Dutch-to-Swedish translations may receive up to 90% reimbursement of translation costs and 25% of production costs, capped at 4,000 euros. This support is tied to Flanders and the Netherlands being Guest of Honour at the Gothenburg Book Fair in 2027. Find out more in our updated grant guidelines.

Foreign language publishers that publish the translation of literary work written or illustrated by residents of Dutch-speaking Belgium. The work should originally have been published in Dutch by a Flemish or Dutch publishing house or staged by a professional theatre company in Flanders or in the Netherlands.

To stimulate international publication or performance of work by Flemish authors, illustrators, playwrights and comic book authors. The quality of the translation is the key to the success of a translated book, so we encourage you to work with professional literary translators and emphasises the importance of high-quality translations. Check our database of acknowledged literary translators. If you prefer to work with another literary translator, the quality of the translator's work is assessed first.

• Foreign publishers can now apply for financial assistance to cover 70% of the translator’s fee.
• Publishers of translations from Dutch into Swedish may even be eligible to have up to 90% of the translation costs, as well as receiving a contribution towards the production costs of up to 25%, across all genres. This measure applies from 2025 until the end of 2028 because Flanders and the Netherlands are Guest of Honour at the Gothenburg Book Fair in 2027.
• Digital applications, audio literature and other new forms of literature may qualify for financial assistance up to 25% of the production costs, with a maximum of 4,000 euros.
• Re-editions of existing translation of Flemish titles (when the translation was originally published by a different publisher) may qualify for financial assistance up to 25% of the production costs.

Translations of literary classics, poetry and drama are eligible for financial assistance to cover up to 100% of the translation costs.

Foreign organisations that invite Flemish authors (writers, translators, illustrators, poets and graphic novelists) to events abroad that are closely linked to their literary activity. Such events may include readings, press presentations, festivals, book fairs, exhibitions, etc. Digital events are also eligible for the travel grant. 

Flanders Literature supports both the production and the promotion of literature from Flanders abroad. When Flemish authors travel abroad to promote their translated work, Flanders Literature contributes to their travel expenses or, in the case of a digital event, the costs incurred in organising the event. We expect the organisation to provide a reasonable fee for the author.

The maximum of a travel grant is 500 euros and we pay out afterwards based on the actual costs. We expect you pay a reasonable fee for the author, which  we supplement with an additional author’s fee of 100 euros per event that will be paid directly into the author’s account, up to a maximum of 500 euros per grant.