Call for applications 2024: Library grants for writers and translators
The deadline for submitting applications is 16:00 on the last day of the application period.
This is the absolute deadline by which time Taike must receive the application.
Applications should be submitted online during the application period.
Applicants are required to familiarise themselves with the call for applications before filling in the application.
If you are applying for support for elderly writers and translators, or for sickness and work disability support, you can find the application form here.
Intended recipients
Library grants are intended for writers of fiction, writers of non-fiction and translators who are currently living or have permanently lived in Finland and whose literary works enrich Finnish cultural life.
Grants for writers and translators of fiction are awarded for the following forms of literature, including combined forms: fiction prose (novels, short stories), poetry, plays, performance scripts, aphorisms, essays, books for children and young people, niche literature (e.g. science fiction, fantasy, speculative fiction, detective stories, fictional outdoor literature), easy-to-read books (except adaptations), as well as illustrated books and comics containing a lot of text.
Grants for writers and translators of non-fiction are awarded for general non-fiction books. They are not awarded to authors or translators of scientific research, textbooks or similar works of professional literature within a narrow field.
Who decides?
Grant decisions are made by the Board for Grants and Subsidies to Writers and Translators based on a presentation by a special advisor.
Purpose
Library grants are intended for professional creative work in 2024. The grant period may not begin before 1 May 2024. The grant must be used in 2024. Library grants support writers and translators in different stages of their production.
Library grants are not available to applicants
- who have a State artist grant or other working grant lasting at least six months in the same year, or
- who have been awarded a supplementary artist pension.
Translators may receive a library grant only for translating books for which the publisher pays a translation fee.
Amount
The amount of grants for writers and translators of fiction is generally 8,000–16,000 euros.
- 8,000 euros for four-month grants
- 12,000 euros for six-month grants
- 16,000 euros for eight-month grants
The amount of grants for writers and translators of non-fiction is generally 4,000–16,000 euros.
The Board for Grants and Subsidies to Writers and Translators may also award smaller grants.
The grant recipient is obligated to pay the statutory pension insurance contribution in accordance with the applicable Farmers’ Pensions Act (MYEL), which covers also grant recipients. The premium percentage rate is 13-25% of the total amount of the grant. The amount of the insurance premium is based on the recipient’s age and computational annual earnings, as stipulated in the insurance decision. Further information about premiums is available on the website of the Farmers’ Social Insurance Institution Mela.
Decision-making criteria
The Board for Grants and Subsidies to Writers and Translators evaluates all applications. Factors that may influence the decision include the working plan and the applicant’s previous merits. The following criteria are used to evaluate applications:
Previous merits of the applicant
- Applicants must have at least one published work or other documented literary output.
- For plays, the publication threshold is considered the performance of the play, unless the play has been published as a book.
- The publication of individual articles or inclusion in an anthology is not considered sufficient evidence of previous literary output.
- What is the impact and how interesting is the output within the applicant’s field?
Quality of the working plan
- How clear and interesting is the working plan?
- How creative is the idea?
- How well planned is the grant work (work schedule)?
- How feasible is the working plan?
Grant decisions are based on an overall evaluation and comparison of applications.
The regional distribution and language of applicants are taken into consideration, as is the amount of funding allocated for each artform. Equality and non-discrimination are also taken into account.
All grants are discretionary, i.e. there is no subjective right to them, even if all the criteria are fulfilled.
What to include with your application
- Your CV (mandatory).
- In addition, you may also include two more attachments that are relevant to your application. The file names should describe the content.
- The maximum file size for each attachment is 4 MB.
- If your latest publication has been self-published or is printed on demand, send a copy to Taike (P.O. Box 1001, 00531 Helsinki).
Do not send attachments by e-mail. Applications and attachments will not be returned.
General terms and conditions
- Grants awarded by other parties are taken into consideration when awarding grants.
- New grants shall not be awarded if previously awarded grants for same purpose have not been used.
- If the grant period is for more than six months, the recipient must give up full-time paid work for the duration of the grant period.
The grant recipient must submit after the grant period written clarification of how the grant funds were used.
Grounds for disqualification
- If the application arrives after the application deadline. Applications must be received by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland by 16:00 on the last day of the application period.
- If the application is incomplete.
- If the applicant has not submitted written clarification of previously awarded grants before the given deadline.
This grant is subject to the Act (236/1961) and Statute (46/1964) on Grants and Subsidies to Writers and Translators, the Act (657/2012) and Statute (727/2012) on Taiteen edistämiskeskus (only in Finnish); the Act on Discretionary Government Transfers (688/2001), and the Administrative Procedure Act (434/2003). Taike monitors the use of grants.
How to apply
Log in and fill in the application online (user interface in Finnish)
To log in you will need eBanking identifiers, a mobile certificate or an electronic ID card.
Instructions for using online services
If you are unable to use our online services, please contact Taike’s customer service.
Notification of decision
All applicants will be notified of the decision in writing by the end of April. Applicants will be informed by e-mail when the decision can be accessed from our online services.
If you do not receive the e-mail to your inbox, remember to check also your junk mail folder. Applicants are responsible for checking their e-mail messages on the address supplied in the application.
Publicity of applications
Applications submitted to Taike are public documents, about which everyone is entitled to receive information according to Finnish law (Act on the Openness of Government Activities 621/1999). For example, the media can request to view applications. Taike does not disclose confidential information. Matters related to a person's privacy, for example contact information and matters related to health and financial situation, are always confidential. Work plans are also confidential to the extent that they contain information considered to be business secrets, such as artistic ideas.
Taike submits information about all grant decisions for publication on the tutkiavustuksia.fi website (Act on Discretionary Government Grants 688/2001 and Government Decree 1394/2022). Applicants can choose when applying whether they consent to the publication of the decision on the Taike website. The submission of decision information to the Tutkiavustuksia.fi service cannot be refused, however, even if the applicant has not given consent to the publication of their name on the Taike website.
Further information
Customer service, t. 0295 330 700
[email protected]