The COVID-19 epidemic and the measures required to contain it are having a major impact on the cultural sector and the book industry in Europe and elsewhere. Where possible, the Dutch Foundation for Literature is of course willing to give extra leeway to applicants - and thus help reduce uncertainties. An update.
The Dutch Foundation for Literature is following the instructions of the RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment), the government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Work at the Dutch Foundation for Literature is continuing (from home), all colleagues can be reached by email. Subsidy meetings are now taking place by means of video conferencing. On our website we will post updates indicating the current state of affairs for each of the various subsidies, so that you can see whether confirmation of receipt has been sent out for a specific round, or when decisions are expected. We aim to handle all applications within the usual time, but unfortunately we cannot exclude the possibility that delays will occur in parts of the process.
Subsidies & support
The Foundation is of course willing to give extra leeway to applicants. If plans supported by a travel grant are delayed, for instance, we will naturally accept this. Should plans have to be cancelled because of measures taken to tackle the coronavirus epidemic, then costs already incurred can be recouped from the travel grant. Please send a message to your contact person as soon as it becomes clear that either postponement or cancellation is unavoidable. For the time being, until at least 1 July 2020, it is not possible to apply for a travel grant for the travel costs of a promotional trip abroad.
Please also note that the Translators’ House in Amsterdam is closed until 1 July. Wherever possible we will try to do something extra, for example by engaging translators from Dutch into other languages to translate book extracts.
And this is how you can help us
When you’ve published a title for which a translation grant has been granted, we usually ask you to send us five copies of the book. For now, however, we ask you to forward only a pdf of the published book and a photograph or jpeg of the cover of the book to [email protected]. Please do not send us the physical books at this moment, as our offices are closed.
Once the pdf and photo/jpeg (as well as the proof of payment to the translator) have been received, we will proceed the subvention process as normal: we will transfer the amount granted to your bank account.
When we are back in our offices, we will be in touch and ask you to send us the hard copies for our library.
By the way, are you familiar with the cool Instagram account of our librarian: Dutch literature in translation. When you forward the photo of your recent publication it will be posted there too.
Activities abroad
Some of the projects organized by the Foundation will take place online as an alternative, while others will be postponed. New Dutch Writing, our campaign to promote Dutch literature in the United Kingdom, will be extended into 2021.
Appointments at book fairs, in Bologna for instance, will be replaced as far as possible by video conferencing or by telephone appointments.
We’d love to stay in touch
We are keen to continue informing you about Dutch literature. Here you will find our latest brochures:
- New Dutch Fiction
- Quality Non-Fiction
- Reading for Empathy
- Dutch poets
- Frisian literature: prose: 10 Books from Friesland and poetry: Voices from the North (of Holland)
- More brochures
Our genre specialists will be happy to tell you more about these and other titles:
- Barbara den Ouden - Fiction (contemporary fiction) and graphic novels
- Victor Schiferli - Dutch Classics (fiction) and poetry
- Michele Hutchison and Mireille Berman - Non-fiction
- Agnes Vogt - Children’s books
- Alexandra Koch - Frisian literature
And please do follow @DutchLiterature on Facebook or Twitter.
