Residency grants

Our guest translators have the opportunity to apply every two years for a residency grant from Translation House Looren or the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia. Each translation project is normally supported only once. (Our funds are limited.) Travel costs are not refunded.

The Looren residency grant supports: 

  • Translation projects of professional literary translators of all nationalities who have already published at least one substantial translation; any language combination. Translators from countries neighbouring Switzerland are exempted.
  • The first literary translation project of newcomers to the translating profession, of all nationalities; any language combination (three grants per year).
  • The production of a dossier for pitching to publishers (research, sample translation, exposé) by professional literary translators of all nationalities and language combinations who have published at least one book (we support three such books per year).

The Pro Helvetia residency grant supports: 

  • Translation projects of professional literary translators translating a work of Swiss literature into any target language, with a focus on contemporary Swiss authors or Swiss books with relevance to present-day issues. (Please detail this relevance.)
  • Translators who hold Swiss citizenship or have lived in Switzerland for at least two years. 
  • Newcomers to the translating profession who hold Swiss citizenship or have lived in Switzerland for at least two years, for their first literary translation project (three grants per year).

Value of grants

The amount of the grant is calculated according to the length of the residency:

Translation projects with publishing contracts:

  • From January 2023, guests from all countries outside Europe and from Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine will receive 80 CHF per day (excluding departure date), up to a maximum of 2400 CHF.
  • Guests from all other European countries will continue to receive 50 CHF per day (excluding departure date), up to a maximum of 1500 CHF.

Dossier production for pitching to publishers: 

  • 50 CHF per day (excluding departure day) up to a maximum of 15 days (700 CHF) or for guests from countries outside Europe and from Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, 80 CHF per day up to max. 1120 CHF.

Applying for a grant
Your application must reach us at least two months before your planned stay. It must include the completed online application form with all the required documents. Please be aware that the process of checking documents upon receipt of your application may take several weeks. 

After your residency
If you are awarded a residency grant, we ask you to send the following documents by email no later than two weeks after the end of your stay:

  • Report on your work (approx. one A4 page)
  • Ten pages of the original work plus the same pages in translation

Complimentary copies and acknowledgement of grant
When your translation is published, please send us a copy for our library (for Swiss literature, send two copies). 

We ask you to acknowledge the financial support received:

  • Looren residency grant: “This translation received financial support from Translation House Looren.” (Download the logo here)
  • Pro Helvetia residency grant: “This translation received financial support from the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia.” (Download the logo here)