CNL Translation Grants (French Ministry of Culture)
Books & Ideas
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The Centre National du Livre is offering grants to assist foreign publishers with the translation of French and francophone authors. The Centre National du Livre, a public institution supported by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, aims to support all the players involved in the publishing process: authors, translators, publishers, booksellers, librarians, literary event organizers. It promotes the translation of foreign language books into French and of French books into foreign languages.
The CNL issues grants to support the translation of French works into foreign languages for professional publishers publishing works in the fields of fiction, social sciences and the humanities, philosophy, the science of religion, psychoanalysis, scientific and technical literature, art books, poetry, theatre, books for children and young adults, and graphic novels. Grants may not be issued for self-published works.
Deadlines
The selection committees meet several times a year, the next deadlines to submit an application are the following:
3rd 2025 session – September/October 2025
Applications can be submitted between May 2 and June 12, 2025
1st 2026 session – January/February 2026
Applications can be submitted between September 19 and October 2026
Important note: the application must be submitted by the French publisher who holds the rights to the work in question. CNL grants can cover between 40% to 70% of the cost of translation. Applications are filled out in French on the CNL’s online platform (in French).
