The Daesan Foundation is accepting applications for the 2025 Grants for the translation, research and publication of Korean literature.
Applications for this year’s translation grants will close at 5 p.m., May 30, and successful candidates will be announced in August. Applications are available on the foundation's official website.
Applicants can choose from Daesan Literary Award-winning works that have not yet been translated into the target language, or any other literary work that remains untranslated.
The winners of last year's Daesan Literary Awards are Kim Hee-sun's post-pandemic dystopian novel, "All About 247" and Kang Eun-gyo's poetry collection, "The Fantasy Shop by Future Mart" (a direct translation of the Korean title).
In 2024, the foundation funded the translation of 15 Korean literary works and one research project.
Selected translators will receive up to 13 million won ($8,900) for poetry and 16 million won for prose (novels, plays or children’s literature). The final grant amount may vary depending on the target language and the length of the selected work. Partial support for the publication expenses of the completed translation will also be provided.
Target languages are divided into three categories. English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese and northern European languages fall into category A. For Chinese, Russian, Turkish and other European languages that fall under category B, the grant for each project is set at 80 percent of the amount given to category A languages. The grant for all other languages is set at 60 percent of the amount given to those languages in category A.
Translators who have full linguistic proficiency in Korean and the target language are eligible to apply, regardless of nationality. Joint translation applications are also accepted.
The foundation also provides funding for the publication and research of Korean literary works. Overseas publishers who wish to publish Korean literature in other languages can apply for a publication grant. Professors, researchers, students and institutions overseas focusing on Korean literature are eligible for research grants.
hwangdh@heraldcorp.com
