Translation funding
MAECI – Translations, dubbing and Book Fairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation promotes the dissemination of Italian publications and films abroad by granting subsidies for translation and dubbing/subtitling, which represent a strategic tool in the promotion of Italian language and culture abroad.
The Foreign Ministry grants two types of financial incentives:
- Grants for the translation of unpublished Italian work abroad and to the production, dubbing and subtitling of short and feature films and TV series;
- Awards to Italian works translated abroad.
MIC – Ministry of Culture
CEPELL (Centro per il Libro e per la Lettura)
Call for Proposals “For the translation and dissemination of Italian books and reading abroad by Italian authors” 2026
The 2026 ‘Translations’ Call for Proposals is aimed at Italian publishers interested in promoting the translation of books by Italian authors and encouraging reading of these works abroad, including through or in collaboration with Italian schools and the network of Italian Cultural Institutes and their libraries, with the aim of disseminating Italian works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and children’s literature, thereby promoting our culture internationally.
All types of works are eligible, with the exception of educational publishing, provided they have already been published in Italian at the time of the Call’s publication. Translations into all foreign languages will be accepted, with priority given to works being translated into English, French, Spanish, German, Chinese, Greek and Turkish.
Project proposals, accompanied by all the required documentation, must be completed and submitted exclusively online via the call for proposals platform of the Centre for Books by no later than 1.00 pm on 21 September 2026.
The call for proposals, which relates to the financial year 2026, has been drawn up in accordance with Interministerial Decree No. 301 of 27 September 2024 setting out the “National Action Plan for the Promotion of Reading referred to in Article 2, paragraph 1, of Law No. 15 of 13 February 2020, for the years 2024–2026”.
Information and/or clarifications regarding the call for applications and the procedure may be requested, within 5 working days of the deadline, by writing exclusively to the following email address: c-ll.bandotraduzioni@cultura.gov.it
For enquiries and any technical or IT-related issues concerning the entry of data on the platform, please write exclusively to c-ll.bandi@cultura.gov.it or contact IT support by telephone on 06 32389369 during the following hours: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 09.30 to 13.00.
The Ministry of Culture
Circular No. 1 of 27 January 2021 regulating access to the National Translation Awards and replacing the previous Circular No. 9 of 14 March 2011.
Applications may only be submitted in digital format via the special telematic application accessible from 1 March – 15:00 hours (local time) to 31 March – 17:00 hours (local time) at the following link:
https://www.librari.beniculturali.it/it/contributi/premi-nazionali-per-la-traduzione/Sportello-domande/
The “National Translation Prizes”, awarded by the Directorate-General for Libraries and Copyright, represent recognition by the State to those who have engaged in translation, an irreplaceable activity in the dialogue between different cultures.
The Prizes take the form not only of an acknowledgement of cultural intermediation work at its highest level, but also of a privileged observatory and centre for reflection on the very concept of translation in its broadest and most interdisciplinary sense, and form part of a variegated and organic set of initiatives with which we wish to reaffirm the recognition of the substantial value of the role of translation, in the awareness of the absolute importance that translation activities assume in the international context.
The Prizes, instituted by Ministerial Decree of 4 February 1988 and subsequent amendments (Ministerial Decree of 4 January 1990, Ministerial Decree of 16 October 1991 and Ministerial Decree of 13 April 1994), are awarded annually by the General Directorate for Libraries and Copyright on the basis of the assessment made by a Commission of experts appointed by ministerial decree. The recipients are Italian and foreign translators and publishers who have contributed to the diffusion of Italian culture abroad and foreign culture in our country.
The prize-winners receive a commemorative parchment together with a financial contribution (which varies according to budget availability) at a ceremony held annually at one of the Ministry’s historic offices.
SEPS – Segretariato europeo per le pubblicazioni scientifiche
SEPS – Segretariato Europeo per le Pubblicazioni Scientifiche is a non-profit association cooperating with universities, publishers and authors, in order to provide an economic support to the translation of works of high cultural value.
For this purpose, SEPS grants contributions towards the translation of high cultural value non fiction works, both scientific and humanistic.
