Literature beyond the book

A presentation partner is a literary or cultural organisation that presents your new work to an audience and supports you during the creative process.

The presentation partner must have received either multi-year or project-based funding from the Dutch Foundation for Literature in or after 2021, or be able to demonstrate that it can present your work professionally and reach an appropriate audience. Publishers and professional producers may also act as presentation partners.

You can consult the overview Literary journals and organisations funded by the Dutch Foundation for Literature to check whether an organisation has received funding.

The presentation partner must provide a letter of support explaining why you merit support and how your final work will be presented to an audience. The letter must also describe how the partner will support you during the creative process and how audience reach will be ensured.

For presentations and performances, you must receive a fee at least in line with the basic rate set by de Schrijverscentrale. For other types of final work, you must likewise receive an appropriate professional fee.

You may apply for literary creations in Dutch, Frisian, Papiamento or Dutch Sign Language. The application form and all supporting documentation must be submitted in Dutch.

Your budget must include all costs and income related to the project.

In any case, this should include:

• your own fee (at least 50% of the grant amount requested);

• the fee you will receive from the presentation partner;

• production costs and the fees of any collaborators;

• where applicable: costs for professional development, such as mentoring, coaching or training;

• where applicable: travel and accommodation costs.

The budget must be realistic and balanced, and provide a clear overview of the financial structure of the project.

No. The project must not yet have been carried out at the time of application. However, you may have undertaken preparatory work on the content.

The project must be carried out and completed within one year of the grant being awarded. In your application, you must indicate the period within which you will realise the project.

We first assess whether your application is complete and whether the project falls within the scope of the scheme. If this is the case, your application will be taken into consideration. Your project plan and the previously completed work you have submitted will then be forwarded to the Foundation’s advisers for substantive assessment. We aim to send you a decision within thirteen weeks.

We aim to inform you of the decision within thirteen weeks of receiving a complete application. You will receive the outcome by email.

Applications are assessed by independent external advisers based on the following criteria:

• The literary quality of the previous work 
  The literary quality of the work submitted with your application will be assessed. This includes, among other things, stylistic and narrative qualities, the chosen form and the relationship between form and content.

• The quality and feasibility of the project plan
  The project plan is assessed in terms of content, coherence and feasibility. The budget also forms part of this assessment and must be realistic and balanced. In addition, consideration is given to the role of the presentation partner and the way in which the intended audience will be reached.

• Added value to the literary offering
  The extent to which the project adds to the existing literary offering will be assessed, for example through originality of form or content, broadening or deepening of the literary field, or reaching new audiences.

Where applicable, the development plan will also be assessed in terms of quality, feasibility and its coherence with the project plan.

To be awarded a grant, all assessment criteria must be evaluated positively.

If your application is not taken into consideration for formal reasons, you will have the opportunity to submit a revised application at a later stage, provided it meets the formal entry requirements of the scheme.

If your application has been rejected, you may submit a new application only once you have new work available for assessment.

If your application has been awarded a grant, you may submit a new application only after the final outcome has been presented to an audience in accordance with the approved plan and any funded development activities have been completed. You must include the final outcome of your previous application with your new application. This will be assessed by the advisers.

In your application, please state the date of your participation in the event or activity and submit the flyer (or other evidence) showing that you were included in the programme. A link to an online programme or flyer is sufficient. Alternatively, you may provide a scan or photograph of the flyer. You may also submit an invoice as supporting documentation.

You must ensure that the name and logo of the Dutch Foundation for Literature are included in all public communications related to the funded literary project. The logo can be downloaded from the website under Downloads.