ROMANI PUBLICATIONS GRANTS PROGRAM

About this initiative

Publishing in Romani language dates back to the early 20th century. While the majority of the printed publications in Romani are newspapers and magazines, the number of publishers or NGOs publishing books in Romani has been growing in the recent years. The language of the largest minority group in Europe is increasingly being used today as a written language both in printing and in communication on the Internet and is becoming a center of positive self-identification for the European Roma community. At the same time development of the language as a means for public communication and expansion of its possibilities are powerful tools for emancipation of the Roma. Despite the lack of standardization of oral and written Romani, the mutual intelligibility of some varieties allows for the publications to reach bigger audience, beyond the national borders.

Between 2002 and 2007 Romani Publications project facilitated and fostered these processes by supporting publications in Romani language and by advising Roma cultural and educational organization how to better distribute and promote their publications. For this period, the Romani Publications Grants Program provided financial and editorial support for 27 print and 4 web publications in Romani language or bilingual, with the involvement of 29 organizations as publishers and benefiting the Roma communities in 12 countries. Thus, the Grants Program generated a critical impact by increasing the quantity and quality of the Romani publications produced annually in Europe. Whereas in some countries (Romania and Serbia) thanks to the local state policies this number is significant, in others (such as Albania and Ukraine) the Next Page-supported projects are among the exceptional examples of Romani language production. In addition, the Grants program set up quality standards with regard to content, writing system, editing, design and distribution of the publications supported, and stimulated the establishment of informal networks among authors, publishers and researchers working on particular publication that remain vital beyond a particular project scope.

List of supported projects