A two-year hiatus in state funding for translations is making it harder for Macedonian writers to reach foreign readers.
For a small country of just under two million people, with a small language and an even smaller literary market, getting books translated and published abroad can be crucial to keeping its literature visible beyond its borders.
But for the past two years, Macedonian authors and publishers have had one fewer tool to help them do that. A government programme that provided grants to foreign publishers willing to translate and publish Macedonian books has been suspended since 2024.
The good news is that the Culture Ministry told BIRN there is a “real possibility” it will relaunch a redesigned translation programme later this year. But the bad news is how many excellent books have been denied a wider readership over the last two years.
The Ministry says it typically allocated between one to four million denars [16,000- 65,000 euros] a year for the programme. In 2024, around 84,000 euros was distributed through 31 contracts with foreign publishers. Foreign publishers interested in Macedonian literature could apply to North Macedonia’s Culture Ministry for funding to cover translation costs, reducing the financial risk of publishing authors who are largely unknown in their markets.
Without that incentive, publishers say, some potentially valuable translations simply do not happen. “Our success at international book fairs, such as Frankfurt, is diminished,” says Bojan Sazdov, editor-in-chief of the publishing house TRI and president of the Macedonian Association of Publishers.
“When there is interest in translating a Macedonian book, we can no longer point publishers to the programme as a way of obtaining funding for the translation.”
Nika Gavrovska, a writer and owner of the small publishing house Gavrosh, has also been hit by the funding loss. She focuses largely on children’s literature, an area where Macedonian books have received international recognition.
Several Macedonian children’s books, including Gavrovska’s Bambino, were selected for The White Ravens, an annual catalogue of outstanding new children’s and young-adult books from around the world, compiled by specialists at the International Youth Library in Munich. Bambino was translated into Chinese, but Gavrovska was lucky. Her Chinese publisher covered the translation costs itself rather than receiving support from the Macedonian state. Most authors are not so lucky.
Gavrovska says the achievements of North Macedonia’s authors have not been matched by the government at home. “We engage people, prepare catalogues and manage to attract the interest of foreign publishers. But then we immediately encounter a dysfunctional element in the whole chain,” she said.
For established writers, the loss of the programme is frustrating. For younger and less-known authors, it can be career threatening.
“If foreign publishers have no incentive from our state to cover the cost of translating from Macedonian, they may not translate our works at all, and we could remain completely absent and unrecognised on the global literary scene.”
Funding programme had ‘shortcomings’
The funding scheme was first introduced in 2014. Foreign publishers applied throughout the year, with applications assessed by an expert commission that included external members appointed by the culture minister.
But writers and publishers say the programme had serious shortcomings even before it was discontinued. Communication with the Ministry was often difficult, they say. Payments were delayed and, in some cases, never made.
Buzharovska recalls several occasions when foreign publishers seeking funding for her books received no response from the Ministry for months.
“Not knowing what to do, the publishers contacted me, and I then tried to call people at the Ministry and ask them to open the email,” she said. “That should in no way be the authors’ job.”
Writer Lidija Dimkovska describes similar experiences. A Bulgarian translation of her poetry collection “(Не)удобноста на постоењето”, [The (Dis)Comfort of Existence] was never paid. When her collection “Гранична состојба” [Borderline Condition] was being translated into Italian, the publisher was not informed if the application had been approved. Neither the publisher nor the translator received the grant.
Dimkovska believes that experience may make the Italian publisher reluctant to take on other Macedonian translations. Such failures come with consequences beyond one unpaid grant. They can damage relationships with foreign publishers and make future translations less likely.
“The programme is important not only financially, but also as part of a broader national strategy,” Gavrovska said. “Every work translated into a foreign language becomes, in a way, a small ambassador for Macedonian culture.”
‘Erasing’ Macedonian culture
Several writers interviewed for this story pointed to neighbouring Slovenia as an example of how a small country can effectively promote its literature abroad.
Slovenia, with a population comparable to North Macedonia’s, operates its translation programme through the country’s Public Book Agency. Foreign publishers can apply for support not just for translation but also printing. North Macedonia’s programme covered translation costs only.
Dimkovska, who lives in Slovenia but writes in Macedonian, has herself benefited from Slovenia’s system. She received support from the country’s Public Book Agency for translations of her book “Единствен матичен број” [Personal Identification Number] into Greek, Urdu and Italian. This book won the prestigious Novel of the Year award in North Macedonia in 2024. She is also currently translating a Slovenian children’s book into Macedonian, with the translation costs fully covered by the agency.
For Dimkovska and Buzharovska, the absence of a functioning translation programme in North Macedonia is particularly striking given the country’s political emphasis on protecting and promoting the Macedonian language and identity.
“Erasing this kind of support is equal to erasing Macedonian culture from the world,” Buzharovska said, “and with it erasing the existence of the Macedonian language, about which politicians constantly hold empty debates.”
The Culture Ministry said the programme was reviewed in 2025 and that “improvements were needed”. Changes being made to its criteria and priorities are now in their “final phase”, before it is relaunched, possibly even this year.
For Macedonian publishers and writers, the hope is that the new version will not simply restore a vital funding scheme, but create a reliable mechanism for bringing their literature to readers across the world.
Source: balkaninsight.com
