There is a great international interest in Swedish literature. The Swedish Arts Council is the government agency with responsibility for promoting Swedish literature in translation. Through Swedish Literature Exchange we coordinate a number of efforts within the field.
This grant aims to promote translation of Swedish literature into other, non-Nordic, languages.
This grant aims to make it possible for more Swedish theatre plays in translation to be performed on stage abroad.
This grant aims to promote the international dissemination of high-quality Swedish literature and Swedish drama and to enable international exchanges in the field.
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Fundig schemes and lists over allocated grants
How we promote Swedish literature in translation
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Funding schemes for translation and promotion
Find out more about our grants and activities for translators
Swedish children’s fiction has a special kind of magic. Whether tranquil or wild, rooted in reality or bursting the bounds of the imagination, it nearly always strikes the same fundamental note: a profound respect for children as thinking people.
This booklet is for everyone interested in what’s happening in contemporary Swedish literature. You will discover promising debut authors as well as established voices. What they have in common is that they are all deemed to have the potential to reach more readers beyond Sweden’s borders.
The first round of translation grants for Nordic and non-Nordic languages has now concluded. We were pleased to receive an impressively high number of applications for non-Nordic languages. In total, we received a total of 183 applications across all languages, and funding was awarded to 103 translation projects.
In the first application round 2026 for grants for translators, we approved 25 applications. In this round we received many applications for sample translations, as well as travels to participate in Översättargruvan (the Translators’ Mine) at Hästbäcks gård.
The first funding round of grants for 2026 aimed at the international promotion of Swedish literature and drama has now been concluded. In this round, grants have been awarded 23 applications featuring a diverse range of literary events.
In The House with the Two Towers (Huset med de två tornen), Maciej Zaremba dissects the events of his parents’ lives and how their war experiences led to an inevitable separation. Janny Middelbeek-Oortgiesen, who translates into Dutch, recommends a book that draws a finely nuanced portrait of childhood in post-war Poland.
Who Does Suzanne Osten Think She Is? is more than a magnificent and colourful portrait of one of the greatest theatre and film directors of our time. It is a portrait of a zeitgeist. Ana Valdés, who translates into Spanish, recommends Suzanne Osten’s autobiography published in 2021.
Emöke Andersson Lipcsey, who translates into Hungarian, recommends a book based on the life of the historical figure Johann Christian Woyzeck. The author Steve Sem-Sandberg uses W.’s fate to paint a shocking, true picture of how the brutality of war can affect and warp the character of the individual.