Оpen call:
Literary scouting residencies

➠ Application deadline: October 5 2025

We are announcing an open call for 2, 3, or 4-week literary scouting residencies for translators from Bulgarian to take place in March, April, May, June, October, November and December 2026 at the Literature and Translation House in Sofia.

What is the call the for?

The literary translator’s role as a scouter for publishing houses is mostly unseen and unpaid. Therefore, the literary scouting residencies within the Archipelagos project are meant to support translators in their search for new titles to translate and pitch to publishers back home.

Who can apply?
 

• Literary translators from Bulgarian to the eligible languages of the Creative Europe programme and to Arabic *
• Literary translators with at least one published translation with a publishing house or a literary magazine

 
* Albania, Austria, Armenia, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia and Ukraine

What does the residency offer?
 

• Financial support for travel expenses up to €210/both directions
• A residency bursary
• Accommodation and dedicated workspace at the Sofia Literature and Translation House
• Consultations, facilitation of professional contacts and visibility of the work
• Possibility to travel within the country if participating in events organized by the Sofia Literature and Translation House or its partners

What is expected from the residents?

The residents will be expected to:
 

• Provide the host with a short excerpt from the translated chosen text(s), along with a short description of the book. To claim the full bursary, those must be given no later than three weeks after the end of the residency.
• Participate in at least one event organized by the Sofia Literature and Translation House (seminar, lecture, discussion, academic visit or the like)
• Deliver a two-page report detailing the work completed during the residency

Names, photos, and details of the residencies will be published on Archipelagos wbesite, social media and podcasts.

How to apply? 

To apply, please send the following to our coordinator Adriana Paneva at apaneva[at]npage.org:
 

• CV in Bulgarian or English of up to a page that contains your names, contact details, country of residency, education, and information on your experience as a translator, and links to your translations
• Letter of interest in Bulgarian or English of up to two pages with a short narrative autobiography, set goals for the residency stay, preferred dates and length of the residency, a list of publications and participations in international programmes (if applicable), and any other information relevant to the open call

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — 

The project is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union and by the National Culture Fund Bulgaria.