Provides funding for translators wishing to stay in France in order to translate French works in the fields of literature or humanities.

The translator must be working on a commissioned translation and have a contract with a publisher. Grants are awarded by the Directeur du livre after consultation with a committee of translators, publishers and Ministry representatives. This committee meets during the last quarter of each calendar year. Applications should be sent to the Direction du Livre through the Attaché du Livre (French Embassy)

The Cultural Services of the French Embassy in New York and La Villa Gillet in Lyon offer a residency program for translators. Two to four residencies are available per year at La Villa Gillet in an arts-centered environment in France offering ideal working conditions for translators who seek to devote a period of uninterrupted work on a current project. Whenever possible, the Villa Gillet also organizes one or more public events with the translator. Support goes to translators of both fiction and non-fiction projects. Contemporary projects are favored. Translators may submit projects for translation from the French only when rights are available. Only translators living in the US may apply. A cultural institute interested in culture in all its forms, La Villa Gillet concentrates on literature, political and social sciences, history, and contemporary art. Bringing together artists and writers, it encourages public debate on major contemporary issues through lectures, panel discussions, etc. Residents are housed at a partner institution in Lyon: Les Subsistances. A unique site (composed of a former 17th-century convent and a 19th-century military compound). Les Subsistances houses today a Laboratory of Artistic Creation (with a focus on the performing arts) and the École Nationale des beaux-arts de Lyon. It combines work, creation, experimentation, and dialogue with the public.

Should you be interested in applying for a residency at la Villa Gillet, please send us the following information:

• Application form download document
• A copy of your resume
• A brief letter explaining your motives for applying to the residency and a description of your project
• A translation contract between the translator and the publishing house if available or a letter from the French publisher certifying that the rights for the text to be translated are available
• A 10-page sample translation from a previously published literary work

Applications should be sent to:
fgabriel@frenchbooknews.com and contact-usa@frenchbooknews.com
with the following subject line: “Villa Gillet Residency Application”

Provides grants to support the translation of book-length works of fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, or drama that have not previously appeared in English or have appeared only in an egregiously flawed translation. Fund seeks to encourage translators to undertake projects they might not otherwise have had the means to attempt. The amount of the award will vary from $2,000 to $10,000.

Submissions will be judged by a jury of prominent translators, writers, and editors on the quality of the original work and the quality of the translation. In cases of equal merit, priority will be given to underrepresented languages and authors and to works that are previously untranslated.