GRANTS

Working Grants etc.

Openings for grants are announced twice a year, in February and August.

The spring 2020 period opens on February 1 and will close on March 2. No application will be accepted after this date.

Decision on grants will be made in May.

Criteria and competition

The following individuals are eligible to apply for grants:   authors who write in Swedish or who are permanent residents of Sweden, translators who translate to and/or from Swedish and illustrators who are permanent residents of Sweden.

The works of these originators must be found in Swedish public and school libraries.

In making its decisions regarding stipends and grants, the Board balances a number of considerations: primarily literary quality, followed by need. The main emphasis is on the scope and quality of the applicant's literary production in the period since (s)he was last granted a stipend by the Swedish Authors' Fund. The larger the stipend being applied for, the higher the demands in terms of book production. There is often very stiff competition; normally only 15-20% of the applicants receive funding.

The one-year working grants are nontaxable and at present for between SEK 60,000 and SEK 90,000.

The three and five-year working grants are primarily intended to provide the recipient with the opportunity to devote him or herself uninterruptedly to his or her professional literary activities, with a fixed basic income for a number of years. These grants are usually awarded to literary originators and translators who are becoming established professionals, and applicants receiving a five-year grant have often previously been awarded both one or two or three-year grants (and applicants receiving three-year grant have often previously been awarded one-year grants). At present, the three-year grants are for SEK 150,000 per year and the five-year grants are for SEK 160,000 per year. These grants are taxable and counted toward the national pension scheme, the pension contributions being paid by the state.