By Andrew Richard Albanese, Editor-in-Chief
Publishing Scotland has announced 13 new awardees for the Publishing Scotland Translation Fund, including a first award towards publication in Sinhalese, and an outstanding list of titles to be translated, including Booker-shortlisted John of John by Douglas Stuart, and Blue Peter Book Award-winner A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll.
The fund, which is supported by arts body Creative Scotland, offers financial support to international publishers seeking to translate Scottish writers.
The First Round of 2026/27 Awardees Include:
- Armaenia Editorial, Madrid will translate Elixir, by Kapka Kassabova into Spanish
- Dedunna, Sri Lanka will translate A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicol into Sinhalese
- Diwan Publishing, Cairo will translate How to Kill a Witch by Zoe Venditozzi & Claire Mitchell into Arabic
- Éditions Phébus/Libella, Paris will translate The Mourning Necklace by Kate Foster into French
- Editoriale Le Lettere, Ripoli, Italy will translate Shadow Reader by Imtiaz Dharker into Italian
- ILI-ILI, North Macedonia will translate Elixir by Kapka Kassabova into Macedonian
- Jalsa Publishing House, Lebanon will translate The Maiden by Kate Foster into Arabic
- Meridiaan Uitgevers, Amsterdam will translate Drayton & Mackenzie by Alexander Starritt into Dutch
- Nakladatelství Bourdon, Prague, will translate The Bohemian Queen by Jean Findlay into Czech
- Paseka Publishing, Prague will translate John of John by Douglas Stuart into Czech
- Rinoceronte Editora SLU, Spain will translate Hamnet by Maggie O’ Farrell into Galacian
- Verlagsgruppe Droemer Knaur, Munich will translate Donald and his Seven Cows by AP Campbell into German
- W1-Verlage GmbH, Hamburg will translate Under the Hammer by Samantha D Miles into German
The highly competitive awards support to the translation of literature across genres—fiction, nonfiction, poetry, children’s books, and graphic novels—with priority given to contemporary literature. Since its launch in 2015, the fund has supported the translation of 284 new Scottish-authored publications into approximately 45 languages in territories across the globe. Organizers said a second round of awardees will be announced before the end of the year.
