Statute of the Traducta programme
1. General Provisions
1.1. Scope of application
Traducta is a support programme for translators of Estonian literature and foreign publishers. The programme was initiated by the Supervisory Board of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia in the year 2000 and was called the Traducta scholarship programme until 2015.
This Statute sets out the terms and conditions for applications and allocation of funds under the Traducta
programme of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia (below jointly referred to as “allocations”)
on the basis of subsection 2 (4) of the
Cultural Endowment of Estonia Act.
This Statute is Annex I to the Statute of the Supervisory Board of the
Cultural Endowment of Estonia (point 2.2.2.). The general terms and conditions
for applications, allocation of funds, concluding agreements, submitting
reports, and recovery of the allocations are set out in the general procedure
for processing the applications and recovery of the allocations of the Cultural
Endowment of Estonia and this Statute is a part of the general procedure.
{1.2. Purpose of the programme}
The purpose of the Traducta programme is to support the translation of works by Estonian authors into foreign languages and their publication outside of Estonia.
{1.3. Types of allocations}
Under the Traducta programme, translator's salary (in the form of creator's salary), and publication grant (in the form of project grant) are allocated.
{1.4. Applicants}
Only private
persons (translators) are eligible for the translator's salary. Only publishers
are eligible for the publication grants.
{1.5. Form and method of applying}
A standard-format application shall be submitted in
the e-kulka online application environment of the Cultural
Endowment of Estonia or by email to traducta@kulka.ee.
{1.6. Deadlines for submitting applications}
Applications shall be submitted by 20 February, 20
May, 20 August, or 20 November. If the date falls on a weekend or public holiday,
the deadline shall be on the very next working day.
{2. Use of the allocations}
2.1. The translator's salary shall be used to promote the translation of fiction, poetry or drama for publication outside Estonia. As a rule, only translations of an entire literary work shall be eligible, but a translation of an excerpt may also be supported. However, if the same translation is subsequently published as part of a translation of the entire work, the previously translated excerpt will no longer be eligible for support.
2.2. Publication grants may be used by foreign publishers for publishing Estonian literature abroad. The Traducta programme shall support only works translated to a high standard. The Traducta programme shall not support translation through third languages, except in exceptional cases. The Traducta expert committee shall decide on such exceptional cases.
3. Submitting the applications
{3.1. To apply for translator's salary}
a standard-format application shall be submitted, adding the following:
- the volume of the work to be translated (character count for prose; word and line count for poetry);
- a copy of the contract between the foreign publisher and the holder of copyright in the original work to be translated;
- a copy of the contract between the translator and the foreign publisher for the publication of the translation;
- an excerpt from the translation (up to 20 pages);
- the translator's resume and list of published translations.
- the volume of the work to be translated (character count for dramatic prose; word and line count for dramatic verse);
- the full text of the original work;
- an excerpt from the translation (up to 20 pages);
- a statement of purpose from a foreign performing arts institution;
- the translator's resume and list of published translations.
a standard-format application shall be submitted, adding the following:
- an informal statement of purpose to support the application;
- the translated excerpt (up to 30 pages, 1,800 characters per page);
- a copy of the original;
- the translator's resume and list of published translations.
a standard-format application shall be submitted, adding the following:
- the volume of the work to be translated (character count for prose; word and line count for poetry);
- an exact calculation of the publication costs of the work;
- a copy of the contract between the foreign publisher and the holder of copyright in the original work to be translated;
- a copy of the contract between the publisher and the translator;
- the latest catalogue of the publisher.
3.4.2. As a rule, the maximum amount of a publication grant is 2,000 euros.
{4. Allocation of funds}
4.1. The allocations shall be decided by an expert committee (the Traducta committee) appointed by the supervisory board of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
4.2. The decisions of the committee shall be approved by the supervisory board.
4.3. The Traducta programme is funded from the interdisciplinary projects of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
4.4. Translator's salary and publication grant shall not be allocated if the translation or work was published before the application deadline.
4.5. As a rule, the applicant is informed of the decision two months after the application deadline.
{5. Concluding the agreement}
5.1. The Cultural Endowment of Estonia shall sign an agreement with the translator or with the foreign publisher.
5.2. The terms and conditions of the agreement (except for translator's salary for translating an excerpt) shall include the following obligations:
to ensure that the support from the Traducta programme is mentioned in the publication in the target language of the translation in the following wording: "This book has been supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Traducta programme.", to which the logo must be added;
to submit five copies of the publication to the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
5.3. Four of the copies submitted to the Cultural Endowment of Estonia will be handed over to specialist organisations as follows:
One copy to the National Library of Estonia for long-term preservation.
One copy to the Estonian Literary Museum for long-term preservation.
Two copies to the Estonian Literature Centre (except for children's literature) for preservation and to introduce the programme.
Two copies of publications of children's literature to the Estonian Children's Literature Centre for preservation and to introduce the programme.
{6. Payment terms and conditions}
6.1. The conditions for the payment of translator's salary shall be determined by the Traducta committee.
6.2. As a rule, the translator's salary shall be paid as follows:
- 60% of the amount after the publisher has received and approved the translation;
- 40% of the amount after the work has been published and delivered to the office of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
If the publishing house ceases its economic activity before accepting
the translation or publishing the work, the unpaid part of the translator's salary
will be paid out after the Estonian Literature Centre has accepted and approved
the translation.
6.3. As a rule, publication grants shall be paid when the work has been published and delivered to the office of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
6.4. The committee shall reserve the right to make exceptions to the terms and conditions of payment.
6.5. The terms and conditions of payment will be specified in the agreement.
Final Provisions
The Statute has been approved by the Supervisory Board of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Decision No. 2/2024-S09 of 27 March 2024. To applications submitted before the enactment of this statute the terms of the statute in force at the time of submitting the applications shall apply.