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Fiction
Non-fiction
Youth
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| | | Description
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In 2006 the French Cultural Services and PEN American Center inaugurated an ambitious new program of support for translations from French into English.
The program's goal is to create a US-published series of fifty books representing the very best of contemporary French writing in a number of fields.
Who is eligible?
If you are a literary agent, editor, publisher or translator, and you already have a translated sample of a French book—but you do not necessarily have a contract with an American publisher— you are eligible to apply for support.
What are the benefits of participating in the French Voices program?
To help offset the financial risks associated with distributing translated works in the American marketplace, the publisher of each selected project will receive $6,000.
If a project without an American publisher is selected, we will do our best to support it by identifying and making overtures to a suitable partner.
In 2006, one in three books that received French Voices grants had no American publisher; they found one thanks to the grant and through our efforts.
We also work in close collaboration with the French Publishers' Agency, based in New York.
Who chooses the books?
A committee of French and American professionals meets several times a year to read and discuss the works submitted for consideration.
The committee is headed by a representative from the Book Office at the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and comprises:
Esther Allen, Director of the Center for Literary Translation, Columbia University
Olivier Brossard, Poet, Associate professor and translator, University Paris Est (Marne-La-Vallée)
Olivier Cohen, Publisher, L’Olivier, Paris
Edward Gauvin, Translator
Emmanuelle Ertel, Assistant professor and translator, New York University
Stéphane Gerson, Associate professor of French, New York University
A. Kaiser, Translator
Dan Simon, Publisher, Seven Stories Press
Jordan Stump, Professor and translator, University of Nebraska
Cole Swensen, Poet, translator, professor, and founder and editor of La Presse Books
Frédéric Viguier, Deputy Director, Institute of French Studies, New York University
Alison Waters, Professor of literature, translator, Yale University
Why speak of “a collection”?
The books are published by different publishing houses, but there is a coherent thread.
To symbolize this coherence, a French Voices logo appears on every book included in the series.
To attract as many readers as possible, especially those who may be more hesitant to choose translated texts, each book contains a short preface by a notable American author.
In 2006-2008, 28 titles were selected by the committee:
In fiction
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (Europa, 2008)
Coda by René Belletto (University of Nebraska Press)
[Les Sœurs Délicata] by Geneviève Brisac
Voice Over by Céline Curiol (Seven Stories, 2008)
[Le bébé] by Marie Darrieussecq
Ravel by Jean Echenoz (The New Press, 2007)
[La Vie extérieure] by Annie Ernaux (University of Nebraska Press)
[Cousine K] by Yasmina Khadra
[Cruels 13] by Luc Lang (University of Nebraska Press)
Do Not Touch by Eric Laurrent (Dalkey Archive Press, 2009)
[L’Intérieur de la nuit] by Leonora Miano (University of Nebraska Press, 2010)
Kick the Animal Out by Véronique Ovaldé (MacAdam/Cage Publishing, 2007)
[Le chagrin d’amour] by Frédéric Pajak (University of Nebraska Press)
[L'Explosion de la durite] by Jean Rolin (Dalkey Archive Press)
Salvation Army by Abdellah Taïa (Semiotext(e), 2009)
Children of Heroes by Lyonel Trouillot (University of Nebraska Press, 2008)
Beyond Suspicion by Tanguy Viel (The New Press, 2009)
In the United States of Africa by Abdourahman A. Waberi (University of Nebraska Press, 2009)
Non-fiction:
How to Talk about Books You Haven’t Read by Pierre Bayard (Bloomsbury, 2007)
[Lieu Commun, Le motel américain] by Bruce Bégout (Otis Books/Seismicity Editions, 2010)
[Ecrits politiques] Maurice Blanchot by (Fordham University Press, 2009)
The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality by André Comte-Sponville (Viking, 2007)
The Holocaust by Bullets by Patrick Desbois (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008)
[Histoire de Beyrouth] by Samir Kassir (University of California Press)
Origins by Amin Maalouf (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008)
Islamism in Morocco: Religion, Authoritarianism and Electoral Politics by Malika Zeghal (Markus Wiener, 2008)
[L'Hostie Profanée] by Jean-Louis Schefer
Enchantress by Jean Starobinski (Columbia University Press, 2008)
Information about the 2009 titles will soon be available online.
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| | Selection criteria
| - The
quality of the French book and its translation
- Innovative
content and literary style of the work
- The
French book must be published after 2000
- Possible
reception in the American book market (i.e.: would an American reader
buy this book in translation?)
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| | Terms & Conditions
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Application for support may be submitted by publishers, agents, or translators, through Tuesday, February 16, 2010.
Please note that once grants are awarded, projects must
have both contracts (French publisher/American publisher and
American publisher/Translator) signed within six months of
notification in order to receive payment.
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| | | | | Requested documents
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- A
10-12 page, double-spaced sample of the translation
- The
same passage in French
- A
one page statement outlining the work and describing its importance
- A
bio/bibliography of the author
- A
CV of the translator
- A
copy of the contracts between:
The
translator and the American publisher
The French publisher
and the American publisher.
If
the project is not yet under contract: A letter from the copyright
holder stating that English-language rights to the book are available.
If
the book already has an American publisher, please indicate the planed
release date for the book in English.
Applicants
should submit two copies of this documentation, two copies of the book
to be translated, as well as an electronic version of the complete
application file saved on a CD, to:
French
Cultural Services,
French Voices
972 Fifth Avenue
New
York, NY 10075
Please specify on the
envelope whether the project is Fiction or Non-Fiction.
Electronic submissions cannot be accepted.
::
Download the application form: Pdf
file | Doc file
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| | | | Description
| Financial
assistance for American publishers is available through the Cultural
Services of the French Embassy in the United States. The assistance
program for publishers registered in the United States was launched by
the "Sous-direction du Livre" of the French Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, and is now administered by the Book Office at the French
Embassy in the United States. It assists projects, which are not
already supported by the Centre national
du livre, and allows publishers whose applications have met
our selection criteria to receive financial help. The grant awarded for
each work varies from $1,000 to $6,000
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| | Terms & Conditions
| This program
supports books that have not yet been published and which are not
supported by the Centre
national du livre (French Ministry of Culture). The
application should be addressed by the 3rd
Monday of February each year for the first session, or by the
3rd Monday of July for the
second session to the following address:
Literary
attaché
Cultural Service of the French
Embassy
972 Fifth Avenue,
New York, NY 10075,
USA
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| | | | | Requested documents
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The amount of the translation grant that you would like to obtain in
order to implement your publishing program.
Please specify expected date of
publication on your application.
2. An
evaluation of the total cost of publication specifying the cost of
translation, and expected income and expenses. Please include the
expected grant amount in the income column. It must be a balanced
budget. A sample budget may be provided upon request.
3.
A description of the work to be translated
4. A
copy of the book in French
5. A copy of the contract
with the translator
6. A copy of the
translator’s résumé
7.
A copy of the contract with the French publisher regarding assignments
rights
8. A copy of the latest catalogue of your
publishing house
9. A copy of a document proving the
for-profit or not-for-profit status of your publishing house (including
an extract of the 501(c) 3 IRS form)
10. A copy of
the by-laws (not-for-profit institutions only)
11. A
document vouching for your capacity to talk in the name of the
publishing house
If
you have already received a Hemingway grant you will need to provide as
well:
12.
A balanced budget with the amount of the received grant appearing in
the income column for the previous recipient of the grant
13.
A copy of the book translated or a copy of the catalogue mentioning
that book
If
you are selected to receive a Hemingway Grant the following documents
will be requested:
14. A document
containing all relevant banking information (preferably a cancelled
check) in order to issue the check to the correct bank account
15.
A contract signed between the Cultural services and your publishing
house
And
if the amount awarded does
not match the original request:
16. A letter from your
publishing house asking for the amount of the grant that has been
decided upon
17. A corrected balanced budget with
the amount of the grant appearing in the
income column |
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| | | | Description
| Designed to support
translation of French books into other languages, it does not cover
works in the public domain, scholastic books, practical manuals and
handbooks, or periodicals. The grants cover the cost of translation per
se, not costs incurred for production or promotion. The commission
meets twice a year, in March and September. For those works, which it
selects, the commission proposes a subsidy ranging between 20% and 50%
of the cost of translation. |
| | Terms & Conditions
| French publishers
who hold rights to the works in question submit the application to the
French Ministry of Culture. Subsidies range between 20% and 50% of the
cost of translation. Applications are filled out in French and in
liaison with the French publisher who holds the rights. The translated
work must be remitted to the Centre national du livre (CNL) within
thirty six (36) months of the decision to grant the subsidy. The grant
is paid upon receipt of a copy of the published translation and of an
acknowledgement of payment signed by the translator.
The
work in translation must appear with the following statement: "This work is published with
support from the French Ministry of Culture/Centre national du livre."
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| | | Contacts
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contact the French publisher who will submit your application to the
CNL and will inform you of the deadlines.
For further information consult
http://www.centrenationaldulivre.fr/
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| | | | Description
| The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Culturesfrance have launched a new grant program to help publishers offset the cost of acquiring the rights for books translated from the French.
American publishers wishing to participate and seeking a grant through this program should fill in the application form. (Download here) |
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| Terms & Conditions
| This is a bi-annual program. Applications forms should be sent to the attention of Fabrice Gabriel at contact-usa@frenchbooknews.com.
In order to be processed, all information should be received by March 1, 2010.
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| | Requested Document
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Filled out application form (download here)
Budget (download here)
If you are selected to receive a grant you will need to provide as well:
A signed copy of the assignment rights contract.
A corrected balanced budget with the amount of the grant that has been decided upon mentioned in the income column. It must be a balanced budget. This document needs to be original dated and signed by the Director of your publishing house.
(Download budget here)
The name of the director and the address of your publishing house to be mentioned on the contract signed with CulturesFrance.
A contract to be signed by the American Publishing house and CulturesFrance.
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