Following a review of the literature and publishing sector, Creative Scotland is supporting new schemes to promote Scottish writers internationally and to develop young writers.
Erin Kohlenberg (CC BY 2.0)
Support for Scotland’s writers and publishing sector is to be provided through two new programmes. The Translation Fund will help Scottish writers reach an international audience while What’s Your Story? aims to support the country’s young writers by ensuring that “an interest in narrative and the written word is no longer an isolating experience”.
The Translation Fund, delivered by Publishing Scotland on behalf of Creative Scotland, will make £25k available over two years to international publishing houses to help them buy the rights and translate works by Scottish writers. Priority will be given to the translation of contemporary literature.
What’s Your Story?, which is funded through Creative Scotland’s arts strategy for young people Time to Shine with support from The Scottish Book Trust, will connect young writers with each other through writer groups, workshops and online. It will support them to explore and experiment with all artistic forms of writing, from poetry to prose, songwriting to journalism. As part of the programme an annual two-day conference will be held and an online platform will be created to showcase the participants’ work.
The two programmes are launched following the publication of a Literature and Publishing Sector Review, commissioned by Creative Scotland, which called for more to be done to champion Scottish literature internationally and to sustain the interest of young people in reading and literature.
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