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Literature

The Goethe-Institut expands the international literary dialogue through translation grants, readings, workshops and residencies. With our global networking activities, we create meeting places for cultural cooperation and mutual exchange. We strengthen the local literary scenes and book markets.
 

German as Guest Language at the Salone Internazionale del Libro in Turin © Goethe-Institut/MbrunoCloseUp

Arts funding and residencies

The Goethe-Institut promotes art and culture in a variety of projects in Germany and abroad. You can search by genre, funding type and duration.

Arts funding and residencies © Unsplash/Matthieu Comoy © Unsplash/Matthieu Comoy

Inform. Research. Discover.

  • Litrix.de

    With a focus on the current priority country Poland (2025–2027), Litrix.de presents selected new publications and supports publishers and translators. The trilingual online portal (German, English, Polish) offers valuable information on authors, as well as book reviews and reading samples.

  • Translation Grant Programme

    For more than 50 years, the Goethe-Institut has been supporting foreign publishers around the world. It provides funding for translations of contemporary German-language books in the fields of fiction, poetry, children's and young adult literature, non-fiction, and graphic novels.

  • Litprom - Promoting Global Stories

    Litprom - Promoting Global Stories supports the translation of literary works from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Arab world, Israel, and Turkey into German. The programme is a partnership between the Frankfurt Book Fair and the Goethe-Institut and is aimed at German publishers.

  • New Books in German

    The programme is aimed at publishers in English-speaking countries. Twice a year, it provides information in English about new publications from German-speaking countries and supports translations from German into English.

  • Traduki

    Traduki promotes networking in Southeast Europe through literature. It supports both translations into German and between the various Southeast European languages.

Literature worldwide

  • "Zeitgeister" Magazine

    Hannah Arendt

    Fifty years after her death, Hannah Arendt’s thinking is more relevant than ever. In our magazine “Zeitgeister”, we explore her life and work from various perspectives and invite readers to reconsider her questions about freedom, responsibility, and judgement in light of today’s challenges.
     

    Illustration: Hannah Arendt reclining with a lit cigarette in her right hand Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel Illustration: © Eléonore Roedel

  • Northwestern Europa

    Vorzeichen. Whom, What, and How We Read.

    Through online readings and talks at the intersection of scholarship with the literary scene, as well as book reviews on Instagram, the series intends to open up spaces for texts and readers, different ways of reading and new perspectives on literature. 

    Illustration, on the left-hand side you can see an open book against a beige background, illuminated from above by three spotlights. On the right-hand side, the same motif is smaller and can be seen five times on a bright orange background. © Goethe-Institut/ El Boum © Goethe-Institut/ El Boum

  • Namibia

    Booksprint Namibia

    In a single day, four creative volunteer teams from Namibia worked in just 12 hours to create beautiful Namibian children's books that anyone can freely translate, print and distribute.

    Teambooksprint @ Goethe-Institut @ Goethe-Institut

About our work

By providing information about the German literary scene and formats of literature promotion as well as contacts to partner institutions, we create the basis for international cooperation in the field of literature and translation funding. In terms of content, we can count on the support of key figures from the German-language literary world.

At the forefront of our work are also the expansion and maintenance of the partner network, coordination of transnational projects and the organisation of book fair presentations. We are committed to strengthening local scenes in the form of continuing professional development for publishers and translators.

Contact

Please contact one of the worldwide branches of the Goethe-Institut abroad with all questions concerning local or regional projects.