The European Writers’ Council (EWC) is a non-profit non-governmental federation constituted by currently 49 organisations from 33 countries in the EU and EEA area, including Iceland, Norway, Montenegro, Macedonia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, representing over 220.000 writers of all genres.
The EWC is the largest federation worldwide, solely representing writers from the book sector.
A*dS is the professional association of all authors as well as literary translators in Switzerland. It was founded in 2002 and represents over 1000 members (authors and translators of all literary genres in all four national languages as well as other languages present in Switzerland.
Goals
A*dS is the principal advocate for language and literary creation as well as translation in all language regions of Switzerland (including the fifth national languages). It is committed to the dissemination of literature as well as the regular exchange between authors and/or translators, language regions and nations. Furthermore, it promotes a diverse cultural landscape.
A*dS campaigns for an optimal societal, cultural, legal and economic framework for his members in all of Switzerland, thereby improving the standards of living for its members.
Benefits for authors and translators
Organisational structure
A*dS members
The members of A*dS are professional writers living in Switzerland or Swiss nationals living abroad. A*dS considers as professional authors who continually produce, publish, perform or stage literary works (fictional and non-fictional) under professional conditions (assistance/supervision as well as remuneration according to industry standards) and/or provide a significant contribution to literary life in another form. Also, A*dS considers literary translation an autonomous textual creation.
Since it was set up in 1982 the EIE-Basque Writers’ Association has seen four different periods:
1982-1990: Legalisation and Consolidation.
The main aim of the EIE-Basque Writers’ Association during these initial eight years was to consolidate the Association’s foundations and objective, and to set up the projects to achieve this objective. They were:
To submit the Basque Book Bill to the Government of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country
To establish the bases for defending authors’ rights, and to provide legal advice.
In addition to these two major aims, work was undertaken in two main areas, bearing in mind the situation of Euskara, the Basque language, at that time and the fact that Basque literature was the literature of a minority language:
To learn about the circumstances of the literature of countries with minority languages and to share experiences.
Galeusca: to foster contacts between Galician, Catalan and Basque authors.
1990-1996: Literary Corpus.
In this second period the EIE-Basque Writers’ Association focussed on “literature”. In this respect, the most noteworthy projects carried out were as follows:
The publication of the Hegats literary journal
The Congress on 20th Century Literature
The Catalogue of Basque Authors
The Poetry Festival
In addition to these initiatives the EIE-Basque Writers’ Association paid particular attention to the following issues:
Training for the association’s members: a scriptwriting seminar was organised.
Literary awards began to be monitored and arrangements were made for an EIE-Basque Writers’ Association representative to be present at these awards.
The ‘Writers in Schools’ programme was launched.
1996-2001: Making itself known in Society.
The EIE-Basque Writers’ Association worked in three main areas during this period to make itself known in society:
Development of a project to spread literature in society: the most significant being the ‘Writers in Schools’ and the ‘Talking to Writers’ programmes.
Expansion of the EIE-Basque Writers’ Association projects throughout the Basque Country: including the Northern Basque Country (under French administration) and Navarre.
Forging of contacts with cultural associations and institutions. With the former to publicise the aims of the EIE-Basque Writers’ Association’s and the process to introduce it into society. With the latter to enter into agreements in order to achieve the aforementioned aims.
2001-2004: The new era for the EIE-Basque Writers’ Association: Strategic Planning.
In view of the current size of the EIE-Basque Writers’ Association membership (325) on the one hand, and bearing in mind the influence that could be exerted in the cultural activity of the Basque Country by the projects being set up, on the other, a Strategic Plan was drawn up to guide and direct the EIE- Basque Writers’ Association’s activities during the coming years.
We, the Community of Belarusan Writers, are a professional creative community of writers of Belarus, who are united on principles of the freedom of speech and self-expression in order to protect authors’ rights and interests and to develop, popularize, and increase the status of Belarusan literature as an integral value of society, without which no full-fledged existence of the Belarusan nation is possible.
Today the Community has 467 members – 332 male writers and 135 female writers, including all the most famous in Belarus and abroad – Anatol Viarcinskі, Ales Razanau, Rajisa Baravikova, Uladzimir Niaklajeu, Svetlana Alexievich, Uladzimir Arlou, and others, as well as the most talented Belarusan authors of middle and younger generations. Their creativities cover all known kinds of literature: poetry, prose, dramatic art, translations, works for children, as well as essays, documentaries, and scientific researches. The community has a non-fiction section and the Ukrainian Literature Association.
Our purposes
– to protect rights of writers as a group which freedom of speech is limited today
– to provide readers with free access to a wide spectrum of independent national literature
– to increase competences of writers who are members of the Union in the advancement of their rights and interests and possibilities of self-expression
– to increase the status of Belarusan works and authors in society
The Union of Bulgarian Writers (UBW) is an authors association founded in 1913 with Honorary President Ivan Vazov. The SBU brought together important masters in the field of fiction and became a major organisation with serious influence in the field of culture. In years of prosperity and national disasters, the SBU has always upheld humane values. The popularization of the contribution of Bulgarian writers in national, European and world literature and the active public position of artists are a sign of the aesthetic and social importance of the Writers’ Union.
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In various years the Union of Bulgarian Writers published dozens of literary magazines, including Plamak Magazine, Septemvri Magazine, Literary Front, Bulgarian Writers’ Newspaper, Slovoto Dnes Newspaper and Savremennik Magazine. “,” Slaveyche “-Magazine,” Fakel “-Magazine,” Art Gallery “-Magazine, two SBU bulletins and others. The Union’s publishing house “Bulgarian Writer”, as one of the largest publishing houses in our country, continues to offer the opportunity to publish and republish literary classics and establish new names in literature.
At the Union of Bulgarian Writers, sections of novelists, poets, literary critics, playwrights, authors of children’s literature, etc., as well as the Cabinet of Young Writers and rural writers’ associations, most of which have magazines and almanacs, have been established in various years.
The SBU maintains active international activities, cooperation agreements with similar writers’ associations from other countries and creative collaboration with a number of international organisations and forums in the field of literature and culture. The international writers’ meetings in Sofia “Peace – Hope on the Planet”, which were attended by a constellation of prominent writers from all over the world, leave a lasting impression.
In the past and today the SBU has been an attractive creative centre, cooperating with all cultural institutions, creative associations, national and local factors of Bulgarian culture. It is the founder and organiser of literary programmes and initiatives for conferences and anniversaries, literary competitions and awards.
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Официална страница на Съюза на българските писатели, основан през 1913г.
Съюзът на българските писатели (СБП) е творческо сдружение, създадено през 1913 г. с почетен председател Иван Вазов. Обединявайки значими майстори в областта на художествената литература, СБП се превръща в авторитетна организция със сериозно влияние в областта на културата. Сред председателите му и в неговите ръководства са избирани едни от най-даровитите и популярни литературни творци. В години на подем и на национални катастрофи СБП неизменно отстоява хуманни и родолюбиви ценности. Популяризирането на приноса на българските писатели в националната, европейската и световната литература и активната обществена позиция на творците са белег за естетическа и социална значимост на писателския съюз.
Въпреки различните политически влияния и идейни пристрастия, може да се каже, че СБП е сдружение с плуралистичен дух и естетическо многообразие. Развиването на всички литературни жанрове, на цялата палитра на литературните изяви е характерно за СБП. С особено внимание писателите се отнасят към традициите на българската словесност и съвременното развитие на българския език, към преподаването и изучаването на българската литература.
В различните години СБП издава десетки литературни периодични издания, сред които, сп. „Пламък“, сп. „Септември“, в. „Литературен фронт“, в. „Български писател“, в. „Словото днес“, сп. „Съвременник“, сп. „Славейче“, сп. „Факел“, сп. „Картинна галерия“, два бюлетина на СБП и др. Издателството на Съюза „Български писател“, като едно от най-големите издателства у нас, и днес дава възможност да се издава и преиздава литературната класика и да се утвърждават нови имена в литературата.
Към СБП в различни години се създават секции на белетристи, поети, литературни критици, публицисти, драматурзи, автори на литература за деца и пр., както и Кабинет на младия писател, и дружества на писателите в провинцията, повечето от които имат периодични литературни издания и алманаси.
СБП има активна международна дейност, договори за сътрудничество със сродни писателски сдружения от други държави и творческо сътрудничество с редица международни организации и форуми в областта на литературата и културата. Трайна следа оставят международните писателски срещи в София „Мирът – надежда на планетата“, в които участваха плеяда видни писатели от цял свят.
СБП и в миналото, и днес е привлекателно творческо средище, което работи с всички културни институции, творчески сдружения, национални и общински фактори в българската култура. Той е учредител и организатор на литературни програми и инициативи за срещи и годишнини, на литературни конкурси и награди.
СБП развива и днес дейността си за подпомагане на писателите в творчески и социален план, допринася да се реализират множество проекти и инициативи в полза на българската литература и нейните творци.
The Association of Catalan Language Writers (AELC, Associació d’Escriptors en Llengua Catalana) was created on the 27th of October 1977.
If we were to give a brief history of the association, we’d state that under Franco’s dictatorship writers in the Catalan language were never able to form a legally constituted professional organization that could oversee the rights of writers and their professional interests, and which could diffuse literature in Catalan within Catalan territory as well as beyond its borders. All attempts to create such an organization were prohibited by Franco’s government which was intent on eliminating the Catalan language and the culture that derived from it.
Writers in Catalan participated in all of the vindicatory movements of our country without obtaining the level of coordination necessary that would have permitted them to create a professional association such as the one that existed at the time of the Generalitat of Catalonia during the Spanish Republic of 1931 to 1938. The first organization of the sector that was born during the dictatorship was the Centre Català del PEN Club. It operated in exile after 1938 and was reorganized within Catalonia in 1973. The administrative difficulties of the moment forced this organization to lead a clandestine existence and it wasn’t until after the death of Franco that it could act publicly.
When the Conference of Catalan Culture (in 1975) was convoked, collective reflection was called for concerning the state of our culture and its future in reference to the origins of the democratization process of the state and the autonomous processes. Writers in the Catalan language participated in this conference under the heading of ‘Literary Production’. In this group’s conclusions at the conference, which took place in Mallorca, the writers proposed the creation of a professional association of writers in the Catalan language. This association would at the same time be an organization that oversaw the professional rights of writers (a writer’s union), as well as a vehicle for cultural promotion. The association would become the single unified organ of writers in the Catalan language through which a dialogue would have to be established with the future autonomous authorities of our country.
The association thus came into being on the 27th of October, 1977, with the participation of more than 100 writers from all of the Catalan speaking territories, that is to say, Catalonia, the Valencian area, the Balearic Islands, and as well with the written participation of another 100 writers who could not personally attend the ceremony. From 1977 to 1988, the AELC developed the representative functions of the literary vitality of the Catalan countries with the desire to articulate a program that would be an instrument of dialogue and relation with the new political powers that constituted what was known as the Spanish democratic transition. One of the primary objectives was to re-vitalize the idea of the Institute of Catalan Letters, an institution that had been active during the 1930’s until the end of the Spanish Civil War. The AELC proposed the creation of an infrastructure that recognized the aspirations of its associates and defended their interests. In 1988 the autonomous government of the Generalitat of Catalonia decreed to finally restore the ILC. Since then the AELC has centered its activities primarily on aspects of the writer’s union and its claims, while leaving questions of representation to the ILC.
The Croatian Writers’ Association – Društvo hrvatskih književnika
The Croatian Writers’ Association is a non-party, non-governmental and non-political association of Croatian writers. It was founded on April 22, 1900. The CWA is not the only Croatian association of writers but it is the oldest of its kind in Croatia. It was set up as an independent section of the Society of Croatian Artists, founded in 1897 by Vlaho Bukovac, the prominent Croatian painter. The Croatian Writers’ Association, headed at its inception by Ivan Vitez Trnski, a leading poet of the time, has gathered since then all Croatian writers: poets, story tellers, playwrights, essayists, theorists of art and literature.
Currently it has 533 members, some of whom live outside Croatia. Membership in the Association is voluntary. Any writer who has published at least three books can become a member of the Association, as long as his books have had noted reception. During its history, it has remained an independent organization of Croatian intellectuals, who have safeguarded the values of Croatian language and culture. The CWA is headed by a managing body elected by the assembly, with a three year period of office. This managing body is headed by the President. All the managerial bodies of the Association are today elected through a secret ballot, as it was the case in the past, regardless of the political system of the country.
The main activities of the Association are of a cultural nature. Another important task of the Association is to provide writers with a framework for a kind of union activity in accordance with Croatian legal system. Thus the Association is concerned with the financial well-being of its members and their moral and material rights.
CWA undertakes various activities and tasks. Some of these are:
For better understanding of the Association’s activities it must be pointed out that its work is organized through 7 branches outside Zagreb, that it publishes two renown magazines Republika/The Republic, which has been published continuously since 1945 and which records and evaluates current literary production, and Most/The Bridge, which has been published for 54 years in other European languages, thus making the Croatian literature accessible to other nations. It also publishes within Mala knjižnicaDHK(A Small Library of DHK) some fifteen books a year, mostly works of contemporary Croatian poets. Furthermore, within its Tribina (Forum), traditionally held on Wednesdays, it hosts the Croatian intellectual elite and discusses in public the key Croatian literary and cultural issues.
The Croatian Writers Society (Hrvatsko društvo pisaca, HDP) is a non-governmental, non-political, professional organization of writers founded in 2002.
In the fifteen years of its existence, HDP has grown into an eminent and, by the range and quality of its projects, one of the leading arts organizations in Croatia dedicated to promoting the best of Croatian literature in the region and beyond.
HDP is represented by its President and Chief Secretary. The Society’s managing bodies are: Assembly, General Board, and President’s Council consisting of the President, Vice-Presidents, and the Secretary. Every year approximately fifteen new authors become members of HDP. In 2017, HDP has counted 301 members including some of the most distinguished Croatian fiction and non-fiction writers, poets, playwrights, critics, theorists of literature, the winners of numerous literary awards in Croatia and abroad whose works have been translated into many world languages.
Our programs include the publication of magazines and journals, the organization of international literary festivals (Stih u regiji – a festival presenting the poetry scene in the region, including countries of the former Yugoslavia; Festival of the European Short Story – a gathering celebrating the short story and bringing together some of the most celebrated short story writers from Europe; Literature Link – an international literary festival that will have the first edition in September 2013, etc.), international exchange and writers’ residency programs, public talks and readings, publishing activities, literature symposiums, etc.
Every year HDP publishes five acclaimed magazines for literature and culture: Europski glasnik, one of the best and largest magazines for literature in Croatia, Tvrđa, a magazine publishing essays, philosophical treaties as well as literary and scholarly texts written by Croatian and foreign authors, Književna republika, Poezija, the only literary journal in Croatia dedicated exclusively to poetry, recognized even outside Croatia, and Relations, a magazine featuring translations of Croatian authors into English, German, French and other world languages and dedicated to promoting Croatian literature abroad.
In the past ten years, as part of HDP’s publishing division, we have started our Poetry Edition as well as published a number of individual fiction and non-fiction books. HDP has altogether published some fifty books plus some 30 bilingual chapbooks published every year as part of Književnost uživo Festival, which HDP organizes in collaboration with Croatian PEN Center.
In 2012 HDP has taken over the organization of the Festival of the European Short Story, which is due to its high quality and standards considered a model literary festival in Europe and has in its previous eleven editions managed to bring some of the most distinguished European writers, including the winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature, to Zagreb. Every year the festival has a partner country and it organizes readings, round tables, and multimedia events in different Croatian cities.
In 2012 HDP has founded branches in Istria, Slavonia and Dalmatia thus decentralizing its activities and investing efforts to enrich the cultural life in other Croatian centers besides the capital. One of our future projects is the organization of an international poetry festival that would take place in Split as well as different symposiums and festivals in Istria and Slavonia.
HDP has a very successful international cooperation, first and foremost with the European countries, such as Germany, France, Great Britain, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, etc., but also with the countries from other continents such as China, India, Japan, the U.S. and elsewhere in the form of writers’ exchange programs and individual international projects. Since 2011 we are working together with the Kamov Residency Program from Rijeka that hosts foreign writers for the duration of one month and gives them the opportunity to write and create as part of the writers’ exchange program.
Besides annual cultural programs and innovative projects adding to the Society’s activities, HDP is actively participating in the development of different legal documents regulating the status of writers as well as the production of literary and other texts in Croatia. In this field HDP has also achieved important results that are of direct influence on the professional and economic position and reputation of authors of literary and similar texts in Croatia.
The Cyprus Writers Union was established in Nicosia in 1978 with the following main objectives:
Since 2002, CWU has been a member of the European Writer’s Council and they even organized the MARE NOSTRUM III in Cyprus, in 2004, with great success. At that time, an important resolution for the reunification of our country and the termination of the occupation was adopted.
CWU participates every year at the annual convention of the European Writers’ Council, and it has a saying and opinion on important decisions taken. In parallel, members of ours have participated in numerous conferences and literary meetings abroad.
The main target of the Cyprus Writers Union is to expand its activities and its events, to reach a wider audience and to approach the young generation of our country, in an effort for the designation of the educational role of literature as well as its social dimension.
The Literature and Criticism Association (LCA) was founded in 2019 in Nicosia Cyprus in order to represent writers and critics who are not affiliated with the other literary associations in our country, and especially to provide opportunities to young writers to develop their talent.
The founding Assembly of LCA has been held on the 16th January 2019. LCA is a non profit association of writers, critics, scholars, theoreticians, literary translators and scholarly editors.
The Literature and Criticism Association aims to:
(a) Promote and enhance literary creation, literary criticism, the study of Cypriot, Modern Greek and world literature.
(b) Encourage reading in all ages.
(c) Promote the educational role of literature, its human, cognitive and social value, and its importance concerning critique awareness.
(d) Promote the literary translation of Cypriot literature in foreign languages and the translation of world literature in Greek language.
(e) Promote the productive exchange of experience and cooperation among the members of the association and the members of the other counterpart associations in Cyprus and abroad.
(f) Promote research on Cypriot literature and its relations with Modern Greek and world literature.
To achieve our objectives we use the following means;
(a) Events (book presentations, workshops, conferences, festivals, exhibitions). In September 2020 we organized a conference on the subject “Cavafy and Cyprus”. Another project we organizing in 2020 is a series of lectures on the subject “The poetry of invasion generation in Cyprus”.
(b) Publication of anthologies, studies, translations, workshops and conferences.
(c) Publications of members’ projects on the association’s website and on social media.
(d) Cooperation, in the cultural field, with educational institutions, organizations, local administration and other institutions.
(e) Application about European or other international programs to enhance literary activities.
(f) Linkage and cooperation with federations or international literary associations, provided that the independence of the association is maintained.
(g) Establishment of working groups for the study of the problems of the association’s members or any other issues considered necessary by the Board.
Our Association has now 73 members and we expect this number to increase significantly soon. As LCA is a non profit association, we depend on sponsorships from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport and Youth and from other institutions and organizations.
The LCA currently cooperates with Hellenic – Cypriot Cultural Association (HCCA), in order to promote cultural exchanges between Cypriot and Greek writers. We also aim to promote similar exchanges in European Union countries.
The Czech Writers Association joins together both poets and prose writers. The organisation was founded in 2015 by Czech writers who lacked a functional platform that would advocate living literature’s interests in the Czech Republic.
The Association promotes a professional approach to authorship and sees to its prestige. It aims to formulate professional concerns with respect to state institutions and private entrepreneurs. In regard to publishers and other organisers of literary life, the Association seeks “fair-trade” conditions for authors, provides them with information and legal advice, and also serves as a place to share their professional experience.
The Writers Association functions also as a professional networking organisation, which offers patronage of foreign applicants’ activities connected with contemporary Czech literature and its representation, has a wide contact network in the contemporary regional creative domain, and is able to offer consultant service to foreign organisers in the area of writers’ mobility support, curatorship and such.
Danish Authors’ Society was founded in 1894 and today comprises app. 1300 authors, translators and illustrators.
The aim of the society is to improve conditions for creative artists in general and for members of the society in particular.
Danish Authors’ Society offers its members a wide range of seminars, legal advice, information about bursaries and grants and much more.
Five Professional Groups
The society is organized in five professional groups: Fiction, poetry, non-fiction, children’s and youth literature, translation. The society is also home to various interest groups such as: Illustration, haiku, women writers and seniors’ activities.
UBVA The Committee for the Protection of Scientific and Scholarly Work, UB-VA, is a standing committee under the Danish Confederation of Profes-sional Associations (Akademikerne). The Committee
represents the in-terests of research professionals in relation to intellectual property rights. For more details, please refer to ubva.dk.
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The Auteursbond is the Dutch professional and interest group of writers and translators. Our association has a board, an advisory board and an office organisation. We represent more than 1,500 authors, divided into nine sections.
The Auteursbond is the professional and interest group of writers and translators in the Netherlands. The association is committed to the collective interests of authors. In addition, we support our members with, among other things, contract advice and organise numerous activities aimed at professional development. Membership also offers authors all kinds of opportunities for exchange with colleagues and discounts on services and insurances.
Our core values are:
Mutual solidarity.
Conflictability.
Protection of free speech.
Ensure the rich tradition of writing and translating in the Netherlands.
Collective representation of interests
The Dutch Copyright Association puts a lot of energy into negotiations with the operators of the written word, as well as with public parties. We safeguard copyright and establish ourselves as a solid negotiator in situations where the voice of authors has not been heard, or has been heard insufficiently, in the past.
On behalf of writers and translators, the Dutch Copyright Association negotiates with publishers, producers and operators of written works. We are committed to the interests of creators, to safeguarding their copyright, and to ensuring a good income position for our members. Negotiating contractual terms and conditions and copyright payments is an important part of our work.
(Dutch)
De Auteursbond is de Nederlandse beroeps- en belangenvereniging van schrijvers en vertalers. Onze vereniging heeft een bestuur, een adviesraad en een bureauorganisatie. We vertegenwoordigen ruim 1.500 auteurs, verdeeld over negen secties.
De Auteursbond is de beroeps- en belangenvereniging van schrijvers en vertalers in Nederland. De vereniging zet zich in voor de collectieve belangen van auteurs. Daarnaast ondersteunen we onze leden met onder meer contractadvies en organiseren we tal van activiteiten gericht op beroepsontwikkeling. Ook biedt het lidmaatschap auteurs allerlei mogelijkheden tot uitwisseling met vakgenoten en kortingen op diensten en verzekeringen.
Onze kernwaarden zijn:
Onderlinge solidariteit.
Strijdbaarheid.
Bescherming van het vrije woord.
Zorg voor de rijke traditie van schrijven en vertalen in Nederland.
Collectieve belangenbehartiging
De Auteursbond stopt veel energie in de onderhandeling met de exploitanten van het geschreven woord, alsook met publieke partijen. We bewaken het auteursrecht en werpen ons op als stevige onderhandelaar in situaties waar eerder de stem van auteurs niet of onvoldoende werd gehoord.
De Auteursbond onderhandelt namens schrijvers en vertalers met uitgevers, producenten en exploitanten van geschreven werk. We zetten ons in voor de belangen van makers, bewaken hun auteursrecht, en zetten ons in voor een goede inkomenspositie van onze leden. Een belangrijk onderdeel vormt het onderhandelen over contractvoorwaarden en auteursrechtelijke vergoedingen.
Estonian Writers’ Union as a professional association of writers and literary critics was founded on October 8, 1922 at Tallinn Town Hall. The number of its members at the time was 33 and by 1940 the membership had increased by 20 more people. During the first independence period of Estonia the chairmanship of the creative union was held by Friedebert Tuglas, Eduard Hubel (Mait Metsanurk), Karl Ast (Rumor), Henrik Visnapuu and August Jakobson.
When Estonia had been incorporated into the Soviet Union, an organizing committee of the Estonian Soviet Writers’ Union (chairman August Jakobson) began to operate in October 1943. On October 8 and 9, 1943 a founding conference took place in Moscow, where the board, presidium and the chairman of the new union were elected. The Moscow-born association of Estonian writers was called Estonian Soviet Writers’ Union until 1958, later it became the Writers’ Union of the Estonian SSR. Since the founding conference it has been chaired by Johannes Vares-Barbarus, August Jakobson, Johannes Semper, Juhan Smuul, Paul Kuusberg and Vladimir Beekman.
During the 1941-1944 German occupation in Estonia the Union’s work was at first organised by a three-member board (chairman Albert Kivikas). In summer 1943, along with other political associations and unions, it was able to start regular work again. The meeting in Tartu on 12 December 1943 elected Gustav Suits as chairman of the Writers’ Union.
Estonian writers managing to escape to the free west in the war-autumn of 1944 succeeded in organizing their activities so quickly that Estonian Writers’ Union Abroad was founded as early as in 1945 in Stockholm. Until 1982 it was chaired by August Mälk, after that by Kalju Lepik and Enn Nõu.
Ideological isolation made it impossible to have official contacts between the two writers’ unions until 1989, when a so-called unofficial, but actually a high-level and extremely successful meeting of writers from both sides of the border took place in May in Helsinki. More honest and talented writers at home and abroad had succeeded in protecting and supporting their nation’s ideals of freedom and culture despite all the political and economical difficulties.
The professional association of writers in Estonia started to call itself Estonian Writers’ Union again in 1991. From 1995 until 2004 EWU was chaired by Mati Sirkel, after that it was chaired by Jan Kaus (2004-2007) and Karl Martin Sinijärv (2007-2016). Currently the chairman of EWU is Tiit Aleksejev (since April 2016).
In October 2000 Estonian Writers’ Union Abroad decided to dissolve itself and its former members were in corpore accepted as members of Estonian Writers’ Union. A section of EWU was founded in Stockholm (chaired by Karin Saarsen-Karlstedt) in addition to the section in Tartu (chaired by Janika Kronberg, Piret Bristol and currently by Berk Vaher).
In April 2017 EWU has a membership of 313 writers, literary translators, critics and researchers both in Estonia and worldwide.
From 1992 on Estonian Writers’ Union is the member of the European Writers’ Council.
(deutsch)
Der Estnische Schriftstellerverband wurde am 8. Oktober 1922 unter dem Namen Eesti Kirjanikkude Liit auf dem III. Kongress der estnischen Schriftsteller im Rathaus von Tallinn gegründet. In Tallinn nahm er auch seinen ersten Sitz, 1927 verlegte er ihn nach Tartu. Am 27. April 1923 begann der Verband mit der Herausgabe der Monatszeitschrift Looming, die bis heute eine der wichtigsten Literaturzeitschriften Estlands ist.
Mit der sowjetischen Besetzung Estlands wurde der Estnische Schriftstellerverband am 19. Oktober 1940 von den Besatzungsbehörden für aufgelöst erklärt. An seine Stelle trat der “Sowjetische Schriftstellerverband Estlands” (Eesti Nõukogude Kirjanike Liit), der am 8./9. Oktober 1943 in Moskau ins Leben gerufen wurde. Ab 1958 hieß er “Schriftstellerverband der Estnischen SSR” (Eesti NSV Kirjanike Liit) und war bis zum Ende der Sowjetunion aktiv.
Während der deutschen Besetzung Estlands von 1941 bis 1944 setzte der ursprüngliche Estnische Schriftstellerverband inoffiziell seine Arbeit fort. 1945 wurde in Stockholm der “Estnische Auslandsverband der Schriftsteller” (Välismaine Eesti Kirjanike Liit) als Organisation der im Exil lebenden estnischen Schriftsteller gegründet. Er verstand sich als Gegenorganisation der von den Kommunisten gleichgeschalteten und unter Zensur gestellten Literaturszene in Estland in der Zeit der Sowjetunion.
Mit der Wiederherstellung der Meinungs- und Pressefreiheit in Estland und der Wiedererlangung der estnischen Unabhängigkeit nannte sich der Verein in Estland 1991 wieder Estnischer Schriftstellerverband. Der Auslandsverband trat ihm im Oktober 2000 vollständig bei und löste sich auf.
Gegenwärtig hat der Estnische Schriftstellerverband 302 Mitglieder (Stand: Juli 2007) und vertritt Schriftsteller, literarische Übersetzer, Literaturkritiker und Wissenschaftler. Sein Sitz befindet sich in der Altstadt von Tallinn, eine Außenstelle ist in Tartu. Dem Estnischen Schriftstellerverband gehört auch ein Sommerhaus in Käsmu an der Ostsee, das regelmäßig in- und ausländischen Schriftstellern und Übersetzern zur Verfügung gestellt wird.
The Union of Finnish Writers is an ideological and professional organization representing fiction authors writing in Finnish.
The organization was founded in 1897 and has now 767 members. Our purpose is to develop and improve the material and non-material conditions of writers’ work as well as to promote Finnish literature.
Our values are community, equality, expertise and literature’s intrinsic value.
Our vision is to ensure a thriving, diverse literature sector in Finland and promote writing as a profession equal to other professions. We work to keep the Union attractive among professional writers and desirable as a cooperation partner. We also work to maintain the Union’s reputation as an influential expert consulted in all matters related to writers .
The Union is led by an elected Board of 8 members and 4 deputy members, chaired by author Sirpa Kähkönen. The Executive Director is Suvi Oinonen.
WHAT DOES THE UNION OF FINNISH WRITERS DO?
We promote writers’ professional status by striving to improve the size and number of grants, and by improving writers’ social security. We contribute actively to the development of copyright legislation, to supporting the domestic book markets, and to securing citizens’ literacy and education. We issue expert statements to influence legislation that affects writers’ status. We conduct studies in developments in writers’ earnings and other essential features of writing as a profession. We support writers’ health and their ability to work.
We support writers in their profession by providing guidance in all matters related to writers’ contracts, copyright issues, social security, and taxation. We offer advice related to publishing contracts even to non-members, for example writers who have not yet been published. You can contact our lawyer in matters related to publishing contracts even if you are not a member of the Union of Finnish Writers.
We promote literature written in Finnish by supporting our members’ work financially. We distribute grants and awards, maintain writers’ residences, offer work spaces, residencies, and affordable recreational locations. We produce events for the stage programme at the Turku and Helsinki book fairs as well as other literary public events. We also publish the Kirjailija Magazine (Writer).
We are founding members of the Finnish Reading Centre, which promotes reading and literacy, and the Sanasto Copyright Society. We work together with other literary and copyright associations in Finland and abroad. We defend freedom of speech and freedom of publication.
The Association of Finnish Non-fiction Writers is Finland’s biggest writer organisation.
It is a cultural and professional organisation dedicated to protecting the interests of non-fiction writers. It promotes Finnish non-fiction, protects the copyright and financial interests of its writers, provides support for non-fiction writers and furthers the professional competence and ethics of its members.
The Association was founded in 1983, as a joint organisation for writers of non-fiction and text books. It now has over 3,200 members – writers of non-fiction for the general public, text books, manuals, dictionaries, articles, etc.
Governing the Association is a Board of ten members chaired by Mr. Timo Tossavainen. The Executive Director is Ms. Sanna Haanpää.
De Vlaamse Auteursvereniging is the association of interests of and for Flemish authors. It represents authors of prose, poetry, theatre, scenarios, children’s and youth literature, literary non-fiction and comics as well as illustrators and literary translators.
The mission of the De Vlaamse Auteursvereniging is based on two aims:
° To inform and assist Flemish authors individually
° Flemish authors represent and defend collectively
De Vlaamse Auteursvereniging represents the individual and common interests of literary authors and translators, illustrators, screenwriters and comic book authors.
De Vlaamse Auteursvereniging does this by developing a vision on the literary sector in Flanders in close contact with its members. It formulates requirements and negotiates them with the other parties involved.
VAV members are first and foremost members because of the collective objectives of De Vlaamse Auteursvereniging and want to increase its effectiveness through their membership. In this way they support the professionalization of the literary sector in Flanders.
Membership of the VAV is first and foremost a collective declaration of solidarity:
– VAV expresses positions that are supported by its members. They are formed on the basis of input from the members and, in turn, form the basis of our negotiations. Members are informed about this: if they do not agree with the common position, they will discuss it with De Vlaamse Auteursvereniging. Members do not express visions that run counter to the points of view with which VAV substantiates its current dossiers.
– In a number of cases, we directly call upon our members to draw up VAV positions in a steering committee or to answer questionnaires.
– Members report any abuses they encounter or that come to their attention to VAV. The functioning of VAV depends on the input of its members.
VAV has no expertise in non-literary genres (educational publications, leisure books, scientific publications) and its own management. For this reason, membership is not possible for these authors.
(flemish)
De Vlaamse Auteursvereniging is de belangenvereniging van en voor Vlaamse auteurs. Ze vertegenwoordigt zowel auteurs van proza, poëzie, toneel, scenario’s, kinder- en jeugdliteratuur, literaire non-fictie en strips als illustratoren en literair vertalers.
De werking van de Vlaamse Auteursvereniging berust op twee pijlers:
° Vlaamse auteurs individueel informeren en bijstaan
° Vlaamse auteurs collectief vertegenwoordigen en verdedigen
De Vlaamse Auteursvereniging behartigt de individuele en gemeenschappelijke belangen van de literaire auteurs en vertalers, illustratoren, scenaristen en stripauteurs.
De Vlaamse Auteursvereniging doet dat door in nauw contact met haar leden een visie te ontwikkelen op de literaire sector in Vlaanderen. Zij formuleert eisen en onderhandelt daarover met de andere betrokken partijen.
VAV verenigt en vertegenwoordigt de professionele auteurs in Vlaanderen.
Het lidmaatschap van VAV staat open voor alle prozaschrijvers, dichters, literair vertalers, illustratoren, striptekenaars, theaterauteurs en scenaristen die de VAV-doelstellingen onderschrijven en van wie reeds een literair werk gepubliceerd werd door een reguliere uitgever of die een contract met een uitgever kunnen voorleggen. Debutanten die een contractvoorstel in handen hebben zijn eveneens welkom – zij kunnen onze steun goed gebruiken.
VAV-leden zijn in de eerste plaats lid omwille van de collectieve doelstellingen van de Vlaamse Auteursvereniging en willen door hun lidmaatschap haar slagkracht verhogen. Op deze manier ondersteunen ze de professionalisering van de letterensector in Vlaanderen.
Het lidmaatschap van de VAV is in de eerste plaats een collegiale solidariteitsverklaring. Dat wil zeggen:
• VAV vertolkt standpunten die door haar leden worden ondersteund. Ze worden gevormd op basis van de input van de leden en vormen op hun beurt de basis van onze onderhandelingen. Leden worden hierover ingelicht: indien ze niet akkoord gaan met het gezamenlijke standpunt gaan ze hierover in gesprek met de Vlaamse Auteursvereniging. Leden dragen geen visies uit die indruisen tegen de standpunten waarmee VAV haar lopende dossiers onderbouwt.
• In een aantal dossiers doen we rechtstreeks beroep op onze leden om in een stuurgroep VAV-standpunten uit te tekenen of om vragenlijsten te beantwoorden.
• Leden melden eventuele misstanden die ze tegenkomen of die hen ter ore komen aan VAV. De werking van VAV is afhankelijk van de input van haar leden.
VAV heeft geen expertise in niet-literaire genres (educatieve uitgaven, vrijetijdsboeken, wetenschappelijke publicaties) en eigen beheer. Om deze reden is lidmaatschap voor deze auteurs niet mogelijk.
La Société des gens de lettres (SGDL) is an authors association founded in 1838 by Honoré de Balzac, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, and George Sand.
SGDL aims at promoting copyright and defending the interests of authors:
It thereby ensures the preservation of the moral and patrimonial rights of all authors (writers, essayists, translators, illustrators, etc.), whether or not writing is their first activity, regardless of how their work is disseminated and whatever CMO (collective management organization) they may otherwise be members of (SOFIA, SACEM, SACD, SCAM…). SGDL also works at improving the legal and social status of all authors.
Therefore, SGDL is at the source of the main legal, social or cultural innovations which have made it possible to protect the interests of authors (social security rights, supplementary pension rights, ancillary incomes, public lending rights, etc.) and, more recently, the re-writing of the boiling plate publishing agreement including stipulations for the use of the work in the digital age.
SGDL represents more than 6,000 authors who elect a board of 24 members every two years:
As of today, SGDL is active on all issues related to authors’ rights, at the national and at the European and international level, focusses on legislative changes in the intellectual property field and on the development of the digital market and the future of authors’ rights. To that end, SGDL maintains an ongoing dialogue with representatives of the book sector (publishers, bookstores, librarians …) and publicauthorities.
Also a committed member of the “Conseil permanent des écrivains” (CPE) and a very active organization sitting on the board of main book institutions such as CSPLA, CNL, SOFIA, CFC, AGESSA, IAF, etc, in order to carry out authors’ claims.
SGDL is a non-governmental association with public utility mission.
SGDL is allowed to receive donations, which are used to provide legal and social assistance to authors, and to offer literary prizes.
SGDL also created a registration procedure in order for authors to protect theiru works (an online version is available here), allowing proof of anteriority in case of counterfeiting acts.
With a tradition of more than a century and a half, SGDL is committed to the promotion of literary heritage, the defense of the French language and freedom of creation, and pursues cultural exchanges with other countries.
Also, SGDL provides for a service allowing authors and their heirs to be traced in case of third parties wanting to use their works (here).
Members:
Members are individual authors only (writers in general, translators, literary writers, scientific writers, academic writers, non-fiction writers, writers of children’s lit., literature for young adults, journalists, playwrights, illustrators, etc.). The total number of registered members in 2020 is 6 000.
Main activities:
Lobbying, Legal assistance, Social assistance, Courses and training for authors.
The Association of Writers in Galician Language (AELG) is the official entity that gathers over 415 writers of Galician literature in all its manifestations: poetry, fiction, theatre, essay, scientifical writing, translations…
It was founded in 1980 by some of the most outstanding writers in our literaty history and members of it were Álvaro Cunqueiro, Rafael Dieste, Ánxel Fole, Ricardo Carvalho Calero, Uxío Novoneyra, Antón Avilés de Taramancos, Manuel María, Xela Arias and Luisa Villalta, among others.
The AELG is one of the organs established by the Swedish Academy with official competence to present candidates to Nobel Prizes. It forms part of the European Writers’ Council.
The AELG gathers writers living in Galiza as well as those living outside it, assuming as unique prerequisite for membership the condition of having at least an individual book published in Galician.
The Association of Writers in Galician Language works in favour of dignifying the writers’ job as well as in the promotion of the writers and their works, encouraging interconnection and exchange among them relationship with other professionals, either from other literatures or from other general areas, providing forums for debating ideas with a monographical perspective, but also with a transversal one. From the AELG we try to look after Galician-writing authors and authoresses’ worries and interests putting them in touch with society and demanding attention from institutions and the media about them and their needs.
The AELG carries out a series of annual meetings that constitute a part of its tradition, such as the homage “The writer in his/her own land, dedicated to highlight the trajectory of an author or authoress of out letters in which a tree is planted, a scuptural stone is erected and a street or a sqare in their native land is dedicated to them.Also, the AELG awards the AELG Prize to the best literary piece of the year and organizes congressescourses and various activities, besides collaborating ademais in similar activities organized by other entities and institutions.
The AELG forms part, together with the Association of Writers in Euskera and the Association of Writers in Catalan Language, in the launching of GALEUSCA, anannual meetings of writers from the three literary spacesorganized in a rotative manner by the three promoting associations.
(Galega)
La Asociación de Escritores en Lengua Gallega (Asociación de Escritores en Lingua Galega, AELG) se constituyó a partir de una junta celebrada el 3 de mayo de 1980 en Santiago de Compostela (España) por un grupo de escritores, entre los que se contaban Alfredo Conde, Paco Martín, Xosé Manuel Martínez Oca, Xosé Luís Méndez Ferrín, Alfonso Pexegueiro, Xavier Rodríguez Barrio, Manuel Rivas y Xoán Ignacio Taibo que acordaron formar una asociación que defendiera los intereses de la práctica escrita en gallego siguiendo el ejemplo de la Asociación de Escritores de Galicia que no pudo desarrollar su labor debido al desencadenamiento de la Guerra Civil española poco después de su constitución.
La AELG celebró el I Congreso de Escritores Gallegos en 1981 y participa en la organización de los encuentros Galeusca con escritores catalanes y vascos. Durante años estuvo enfrentada a la Real Academia Gallega por considerarla una institución inmovilista que no trabajaba a favor de la cultura gallega. La revista Nó es su portavoz oficial. En la actualidad más de 230 escritores están asociados. Está reconocida por la Academia Sueca para presentar candidatos oficiales al Premio Nobel de Literatura y forma parte del Congreso de Escritores Europeos (EWC).
The SYNDIKAT, the Association of German Language Crime Writers, was founded in 1986. With 750 authors from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, SYNDIKAT is the largest association for suspense literature in the German-speaking world and covers the entire genre from regional crime fiction to international thrillers. At SYNDIKAT bestselling authors, genre-spanning all-rounders, ambitious part-time writers and newcomers meet at eye level to exchange ideas and organise common interests. This takes place primarily at the annual festival, the CRIMINALE.
The CRIMINALE
For more than thirty years, the SYNDIKAT has been organising the CRIMINALE, a festival of crime literature which takes place every spring in a different region of Germany, Austria or Switzerland. Over five days, around 300 crime writers organise a variety of literary events and exchange ideas with professional visitors from the world of literature and the media, as well as with interested crime writers personally. The programme includes over 80 different events. The focus is on readings, literary and political panel discussions, lectures by experts, book signings and parliamentary evenings. In addition, numerous workshops are held on criminological and other topics such as weapons science or profiling, self-marketing or voice training, authors’rights, contracts or the shifts in the book market. The festival programme is complemented by events such as cooking duels, Tango-Argentino courses and a football match between crime writers and a local selection. The highlight and conclusion of the festival is always the award ceremony, the “Tango CRIMINALE” on Saturday evening with the awarding of the GLAUSER, the crime novel award named after the Swiss author Friedrich Glauser, in the categories novel, debut, short crime novel, youth and children’s crime novel.
The German Writers’ Union (VS), founded in 1969 with the participation of Heinrich Böll, Ingeborg Drewitz, Günter Grass and Martin Walser is the largest federal association for authors and translators in Germany with almost 4,000 members. Members include Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek, criminal writer Friedrich Ani, international bestselling author Nina George, “Connie” creator Liane Schneider, Jo Nesbø translator Hinrich Schmidt-Henckel and actor Ottfried Fischer. In addition, bloggers, self-publishers and regularly published authors of short stories and plays are also members and benefit from legal advice and the political voice of the VS.
The VS is also associated with achievements such as the Künstlersozialkasse, Public Lending Right, standard contracts and remuneration rules; however, the VS has also been involved in the founding of institutions such as the European Writers’ Council (EWC), the German Literature Fund and the Network Authorsrights.
The working conditions of authors and translators do not only depend on standard fees and affordable pensions. Cultural policy, tax laws, education policy and the market provide the social framework within which literature is promoted and can develop.
The VS therefore works in a regional, national and international context wherever the interests of literature are at stake and intervenes when current policies and their trends and tendencies threaten the freedom of culture and the diversity of literature.
The VS is structured regionally, in each federal state a national executive committee of the VS takes care of the special interests, difficulties and problems of its members. Many regional events, seminars and readings are organised in the regional branches. Thus each regional association has its own literary sphere of influence.
In some regional associations there are additional regional groups, such as in Bavaria, which facilitate the work of the regional Board and intensify contact with the members. Literary translators are organised in the Federal Translators’ Branch (VdÜ, Verband der Literaturübersetzerinnen/-übersetzer) – and the Federal Translators’ Branch is on an equal footing with a VS-Landesverband.
The founding congress took place under the title “Ende der Bescheidenheit” on 8 June 1969 in Cologne. First chairman was the author and later SPD member of the Bundestag Dieter Lattmann.
Since its foundation in 1969, there have been nineteen major congresses and federal delegate conferences. It is part of the VS’s self-image not only to represent the interests of writers, but also to comment on literary and socio-political issues.
In 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the VS, the tradition of literarily focused federal congresses had been revived: “Literatur unter Strom” is the 22nd federal congress and is dedicated to the two core themes of digitisation and politics, and will be accompanied by more than 30 readings, among others with Uwe Timm, Friedrich Ani, Kerstin Hensel and the “Connie” creator Liane Schneider.
Topics of the delegates’ conference will also include the more rapid acceptance of self-publishers and the question of how to deal with AfD members in the VS. In the afternoon of 16.2.2019 a new federal executive committee was elected.
(deutsch)
Schwerpunkte des VS – Zur Wahrnehmung der Interessen der VS-Mitglieder im regionalen, nationalen und internationalen Rahmen
Die Arbeitsbedingungen von Autorinnen/Autoren und Übersetzerinnen/Übersetzer hängen nicht nur von Regelhonoraren und einer erschwinglichen Altersversorgung ab. Kulturpolitik, Steuergesetze, Bildungspolitik und der Markt geben den gesellschaftlichen Rahmen ab, innerhalb dessen Literatur gefördert wird und sich entwickeln kann.
Der VS arbeitet daher im regionalen, nationalen und internationalen Rahmen überall dort mit, wo es um die Belange der Literatur geht.
Der VS
– ist Mitglied in der Deutschen Literaturkonferenz e. V. im Deutschen Kulturrat, einem Zusammenschluss der wichtigsten literarischen Institutionen in Deutschland;
– ist vertreten im Deutschen Literaturfonds, in der Kulturstiftung der Länder, in der Bundesakademie für kulturelle Bildung Wolfenbüttel und in zahlreichen weiteren Institutionen, um die Literaturförderung zu verbessern;
– vertritt in den Gremien der Künstlersozialkasse und der VG Wort die Interessen der Literaturschaffenden;
Die Zusammenarbeit auf europäischer Ebene innerhalb des EWC gewinnt zunehmend an Bedeutung. Ob es nun im Zeitalter der Digitalisierung um die Wahrung und Gestaltung der Autorenrechte oder den Erhalt der Buchpreisbindung geht, der VS ist ein wichtiger Partner des EWC, nicht zuletzt durch seine Erfahrung mit rechtlichen, beruflichen und sozialen Problemen;
– nimmt öffentlich Stellung zu Behinderungen der Freiheit von literarischer Arbeit durch Zensur, Unterdrückung und Gewalt – weltweit;
– trägt – z. B. durch Zusammenarbeit mit eigenen regionalen Fördervereinen und Literaturbüros – zur Nachwuchsförderung bei;
– mischt sich mit öffentlichen Veranstaltungen in die literarische und kulturpolitische Diskussion ein, z. B. für die Einführung des sogenannten Goethegroschens – des Urhebergemeinschaftsrechts – auf deutscher und europäischer Ebene;
– beteiligt sich ist auf allen Ebenen und in allen Gremien in der ver.di an der Erarbeitung und Durchsetzung medien- und kulturpolitischer Konzepte.
– fördert durch Austausch mit ausländischen Schriftstellerverbänden das wechselseitige Kennenlernen unterschiedlicher Literaturen; vertritt als Mitglied im Europäischen Schriftstellerkongress EWC die Interessen der deutschen Autorinnen und Autoren europaweit;
In allen diesen Belangen arbeitet der VS eng mit den vielfach von VS-Mitgliedern getragenen Fördervereinen in den Ländern sowie auf Bundesebene mit dem Kulturwerk deutscher Schriftsteller e. V. zusammen.
The Hellenic Authors’ Society (formerly the “Greek Writers’ Society”) is a non-governmental organization established on November 22, 1981 and supported by the Ministry of Culture. The Hellenic Authors’ Society primary aim is to act as a hub of communication between its members, and to further the interests in Greek writers. It organises local and international cultural events and cooperates with related organisations within Europe and beyond. Among others, the website contains a database of members.
In order to become a member of the Society a candidate must fulfill the requirement of having published original works of a certain quality in the Greek language based on which she/he can be voted as a member by the annual General Assembly. At present the society counts about 300 members.
The Society of Hungarian Authors is a professional, interest protection and service provision organisation that has been founded by writers who respect the works of and are spiritually close to each other.
The Society was established in 1997 to promote contemporary literature and democratic cultural policies. Its more than 400 members include some of the internationally most acclaimed Hungarian writers as well as cultural journalists and cultural managers from across Hungary, and also writers and critics of the Hungarian minorities and diasporas, along with international translators and scholars of Hungarian literature.
It organizes readings, conferences, festivals and other cultural events within and beyond the borders of Hungary. It has collaborated with a long list of Hungarian and international organizations.
Its various programmes include:
SILO – Socially Inclusive Literature Operation – a Creative Europe programme
The Afterlife of Books – Readings, talks and discussions of recent books.
Contemporary Literature in Schools – A programme for schools to invites writers to literary classes
The annual Festival & Award –Since 2004 each year Szépírók Társasága has organised a two day event of readings, talks, debates, exhibitions, screenings, and music focusing on a single topic. Previous topics included Transition and Translation; Crisis, Poverty and Solidarity; Children and Youth Literature; Neighbourhood and Freedom; Minority Perspectives; Women in Literature.
Szépírók World Literature – festivals (Baltic Poetry), translation workshops (European Writers ws.), Dunafeszt
The Hungarian Writers’ Association, established in 1945, furthers the cause of Hungarian literature and of the society of Hungarian writers. It wishes to represent the interests of literature and of writers, it protects the institutions in the domain of literature, it hosts literary events, organizing meetings with writers, literary debates and book presentations.
As a workshop of Hungarian cultural diplomacy it maintains relations with the literary organizations of other countries , especially of the neighboring Central European countries. In the service of the spiritual and organizational unity of Hungarian literature, currently divided by several state borders, it offers a home to Hungarian writers living in minority and diaspora conditions around the world. The Hungarian Writers’ Association is an active member of the European Writers’ Council.
During its several hundred years’ history Hungarian literature has always acted as a representative of the Hungarian nation and as a protector of national identity, thus the Writers’ Association undertakes certain public tasks as well: it wishes to reinforce democratic organization and a political culture in compliance to European standards. It wishes to protect the values of social equity, of national solidarity and of culture in one’s mother tongue.
The role undertaken by the Writers’ Association is significant as a memento of our past as well. In 1956 the Association supported the Revolution, it benefited from the trust of the entire population and it suffered after the repression of the Revolution. By the end of the eighties it had an important role in the process of the change in the political system, many of its members ending up as leaders or members of various political parties, determining and creating political life in Hungary either in a direct or indirect way. Following the change in the political system the Writers’ Association needed to become a spiritual forum and force performing its ethical, professional and social-political roles in a position beyond the realm of parties, existing in a meddle of aesthetic and political views and of systems of value.
The Writers’ Union of Iceland (Rithöfundasamband Íslands – RSÍ) is an ideological and professional organization representing authors. The Union was founded in 1974 and has now approximately 600 members including poets, novelists, dramatists, scriptwriters, writers of young adult/children’s books, authors of academic works, and translators. The first organization of Icelandic writers was founded when writers got their own chapter within the Artists Union of Iceland 1928. From 1945, Icelandic writers formed two associations along left/right political lines but from 1957 they worked closely together until they eventually merged in 1974. The Union is led by an elected board of 5 members and 2 deputy members, chaired by author Mr. Karl Ágúst Úlfsson. The Executive Director is Mrs. Ragnheiður Tryggvadóttir.
The object of the Writers’ Union of Iceland is to develop and improve the material and non-material conditions of writers, to treat copyright and other rights of copyright holders within the frame of the legislation and make total and collective compacts on behalf of writers, work to provide funding and grants for the benefit of authors and to collaborate with interest groups in Iceland and abroad. The object is also to strengthen the association of Icelandic authors, safeguard authors´ interests and rights in conformity with international custom, defend the freedom and honour of literature and oppose any kind of persecution of authors and obstacles in their profession.
The Writers’ Union of Iceland will not participate in conflicts of political parties nor will it side with artistic policies, political opinions or religion.
The right to membership have all Icelandic authors and foreign authors residing permanently in Iceland, having published/produced two original or translated works. The works must be of an artistic and professional quality or have a high educational and cultural value.
The Writers’ Union of Iceland has concluded compacts with the Icelandic Publishers Association, the State Broadcasting Service, The National Centre for Educational Material, the National Theatre, the Reykjavík City Theatre, the Akureyri Theatre and other parties publishing or utilizing literary works.
The Writers’ Union of Iceland is a member of Fjölís – Extended Collective Licensing organization, IHM – a copyright organization that collects remunerations for the sale of media and hardware used for reproduction of material protected by copyright, The Federation of Icelandic Artists, The Nordic Council of Writers and translators, The Baltic Writers’ and translators’ Council, The European Writers’ Council and The International Authors Forum.
The Writers´ Union hosts a program named Skáld í skólum (Writers in schools) where pairs of writers collaborate in creating lively school program. They visit schools, present themselves and other writers, talk about literature, writers´ work and give pupils interesting examples on how to use their own creativity, inspiring them as well to have fun reading books and writing their own material. The programme has been a great success with Icelandic schools and pupils ages 6-16 from the year 2006.
The Writers´ Union in collaboration with the National Library have an annual price Maístjarnan (May Star) for last year’s best book of poetry.
Gunnarshús in Reykjavík is the home of the Writers’ Union of Iceland. The house is quite remarkable as it was the last residence of writer Gunnar Gunnarsson (1889-1975) but it is also truly a milestone in the history of Icelandic architecture.
The Writers’ Union hosts literary events in Gunnarshús, in addition to supplying meeting facilities to various groups of writers. The Union also holds receptions in the house for foreign writers, giving them a chance to meet their Icelandic colleagues.
An apartment for visiting writers has been available in Gunnarshús from 1999.
The Irish Writers Union is the main advocacy body for Irish writers and it is open to Irish writers and writers of Irish interest publications, wherever they are based. We offer members publishing advice, contract advice and promotion via our website and social member channels. The union was founded in 1986 by authors wishing to organise as writers to resist censorship in Ireland and in general to provide a voice for the collective expression of writers on matters pertaining to their profession. The union is managed by a steering committee which is elected annually at the AGM.
The union is constantly working to achieve more favourable remuneration and conditions for writers. Over the years, we have taken on various challenges and one of our most successful projects has been the Campaign for Public Lending Rights. We have many current concerns, such as our participation in an international campaign for fairer contracts.
The Irish Writers Union is the only Irish organisation invited to nominate an author for the Nobel Prize in literature.
The objectives of the Irish Writers Union are:
• To organise writers to express their shared concerns and to have a collective input into decisions that affect them
• To advance the cause of writing as a profession and as a form of work
• To achieve better remuneration and more favourable conditions for writers
• To offer advice, assistance and support to individual writers in their relations with publishers and other users of their work
• To provide a means for the expression of the collective opinion of writers of matters affecting their profession
Support for Irish Writers
The Irish Writers Union offers a model contract for guidance to members and assists in disputes if one should arise. Thanks to the union, there is now a disputes procedure for writers who feel publishers of their work have treated them unprofessionally.
The union acts as a watchdog for members, on contracts, royalty payments and festival remuneration.
The union negotiates on behalf of writers with bodies such as the Irish government, the Arts Councils north and south, Bord na Leabhar and Publishing Ireland.
The union provides information to published authors on registration for UK and Irish Public Lending Rights.
The union hosts various events to assist writers in the development of their careers. For instance, our past events have included short story competitions for members only; readings; provision of information on the Novel Fair; workshops on relevant topics; a pitching session with the Screen Directors Guild and expert speakers on copyright, contracts and publishing. We encourage exhibition and sales of members’ publications at our AGM.
The union has a monthly newsletter, Final Draft, which is edited by a member of the IWU Committee and is sent out to union members by email. Members are encouraged to send in short articles and pictures on their current activities, general writing news and information on competitions they have won as well as forthcoming publications and launches.
We have an online presence on Facebook and a website where we also list members’ publications, news and activities. Fraternal links are maintained with the European Writers Congress and similar writers’ organisations throughout the world.
Year Founded: Founded in 1940 as “The Writers Union of Latvian SSR”.
Registered as the society “Latvian Writers Union” (LWU) in 2005.
Aims and Objectives:
The Latvian Writers Union represents the rights of Latvian writers, and organizes the two largest literary festivals in Latvia.
Unite professional Latvian writers and literary scholars, critics and translators (target languages – Latvian and Russian) living in Latvia and abroad, as well as writers of ethnic minorities in Latvia under one umbrella organization LWU / LRS.
Support the development of the Latvian language and the written word, freedom of speech; to defend the professional, economic and social rights and interests of WUL members;
The Latvian Writers Union is the biggest and most responsive information “bank” regarding processes in contemporary Latvian literature. The Latvian Writers Union is providing grants for translation and publishing of Latvian literature, as well as hosting a mobility programme for Latvian authors and industry experts.
International Memberships:
EWC (European Writers Congress);
TSWTC (Three Seas Writers and Translators Council);
BWTC (The Baltic Writers and Translators Council).
The LWU Literary Foundation
Aim of the Literary Foundation is to give beneficence to the members of LWU and support programmes which correspond to aims of the Foundation or its subdivisions.
The Foundation endows and provides support or free services to the members of LWU in every neccessity possible: disease, disability, loss of custody, very old age, lack of minimal sustenance, in case of accidents, etc. In some exceptional cases the Foundation would support the young writers.
In accordance to the Law on Charity and Sponsorship Funds of the Republic of Lithuania, the Literary Foundation supports:
1) Publishing of fiction literature, especially the original type, management and publishing of the literary heritage of the members of LWU;
2) Literary events: conferences, literary evenings, commemoration of anniversaries, literary competitions, etc.;
3) Activities of the subdivisions of LWU, such as periodicals, publishing, bookshops, etc.;
4) Care of the memorials of the writers, other remembrance programmes;
5) Social and cultural programmes announced by Government;
6) Founder of the Foundation, members of its administration and workers could be supported by the Foundation only in situations where they meet the endowment criteria of the Foundation.
The Writers’ Club
The Writers’ Club implements diverse literary projects related to preserving historical memory and the meaning of the Lithuanian literary tradition, the spread of Lithuanian exile literature, the popularization of the works of young writers, the presentation of National Culture and Art Award winners to readers, and the support of contemporary Lithuanian literature and its authors. In cooperation with professional artists in different fields, other social organizations, district and city governments, cultural and educational departments, publishing houses, children’s homes, libraries, schools, museums, universities, academies, cultural centers, and embassies, the Writers’ Club organizes various events.
It focuses on soirées devoted to individual authors and young artists, on poetry and music events, readings, discussions, anniversary celebrations for writers, concerts, exhibitions, and other events that attract great attention not only in the Writers Club hall but also throughout Lithuania. The Writers’ Club organizes the international poetry festival Poezijos pavasaris (Poetry Spring), which is the largest and most significant literary festival in Lithuania, with events now in other countries as well.
LWU is cooperating with the foreign centres of culture and the cultural representatives from the embassies in Lithuania. The cooperation activities include: organization of integrated projects, recommendation of the Lithuanian literature texts to book and magazine publishers abroad; organization of Lithuanian literature presentations and writers’ meetings abroad; delegation of the Lithuanian writers to visit festivals, conferences and literary events overseas; dissemination of information regarding Lithuanian literature, writers, publishers and the activities of LWU; help in establishing contacts; invitation of the foreign guests to visit Poetry Spring (Poezijos pavasaris) international festival; spreading of information concerning residencies and bursaries for the writers and translators, as well as mediation of the requests for residencies and bursaries; distribution of information regarding ongoing competitions.
Akkademja tal-Malti was the prime regulatory body responsible for the Maltese language from the early 20th century up to the end of the millennium, when a Government sponsored law was passed to protect issues related to the national language. On joining the European Union, Maltese became one of the recognised languages of the EU – no mean achievement for a language spoken by less than half a million people.
Initially it was known as L-Għaqda tal-Kittieba tal-Malti (Association of Writers of Maltese), Malta’s oldest literary society whose earliest activities go as far back as the early nineteen twenties, led by literary giants like Dun Karm, Ġużè Muscat Azzopardi and Ninu Cremona, it spearheaded the cause of the Maltese language.The Akkademja was mainly responsible for all the major linguistic and literary development of the Maltese language during the past century, developing linguistic academic initiatives which culminated in the national recognition of a standard written Maltese.
In 2005 the National Council for the Maltese Language was set up through a Law by the Maltese Parliament. This Council is nowadays the main regulatory body of the Maltese language instead of the L-Akkademja tal-Malti.
The Montenegrin Society of Independent Writers (CDNK) was founded in 1990 as a counterweight to the activities of the Montenegrin Official Writers’ Association with the aim of counteracting the then policy of war and ethnic cleansing.
CDNA has included in its programmatic provisions communication of world cultural trends, confirmation of Montenegrin culture, open society and promotion of democracy.
As part of his publishing activities, he publishes the Journal of Literature, Culture and Social Affairs Ars. CDNK President is now the writer and publisher Milorad Popovic.
Crnogorsko društvo nezavisnih književnika (CDNK) osnovano je 1990. kao protuteža djelovanju oficijelnog Udruženja književnika Crne Gore i s ciljem da se suprotstavi tadašnjoj politici rata i etničkog čišćenja.
U svoje programske odredbe CDNK je uvrstilo komunikaciju sa svjetskim kulturnim trendovima, afirmiranje crnogorske kulture, otvorenog društva i unaprjeđenje demokracije.
U okviru nakladničke djelatnosti, publikuje i časopis za književnost, kulturu i društvena pitanja Ars.
Predsjednik CDNK sada je književnik i nakladnik Milorad Popović.
Članovi CDNK su: Jevrem Brković, Mirko Kovač, Borislav Jovanović, Ognjen Spahić, Balša Brković, Aleksandar Bečanović, Dragan Radulović, Danilo Radojević, Novak Kilibarda…
CDNK se od svojeg utemljenja zalagala za priznanje crnogorskog jezika.
The Norwegian Authors’ Union (Norwegian: Den norske Forfatterforening, DnF) is an association of Norwegian authors. It was established in 1893 to promote Norwegian literature and protect Norwegian authors’ professional and economic interests. DnF also works in solidarity with persecuted writers internationally.[1]
As of 2004 the association had 513 members. The author Anne Oterholm has led the organization since March 2005.
Organization activities
The Norwegian Authors’ Union Literary Council annually awards a number of government and independently established scholarships to both members and non-members. The Literary Council consists of nine members and provides counsel on all matters of literary art, in addition to decisions on awards. A number of famous Norwegian authors have been members of the Council.
In the 40 years the Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers and Translators Association has existed, it has distributed over one billion kroner (about 100 million euros) in grant funding and has contributed to the publication of over 6,000 books. Every year we distribute nearly 70 million kroner (about 7 million euros) in the form of grants.
With our 5,500 members, we are a broad-based organisation that brings writers and translators together with everything from biographies, teaching aids and textbooks to local history and current affairs books for adults, children and adolescents. This includes non-fiction, educational and professional literature.
The Association works to protect its members’ financial and professional interests, and to safeguard the freedom of expression. At our premises in central Oslo, close to the House of Literature, we hold workshops, seminars and meetings. In addition, the Houses of Literature in Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim organise annual festivals and literature and non-fiction events.
Norwegian literature continues to conquer new ground internationally. Could it be because our vast forests, long fjords and mountains serve as an inspiration to writers?
Of course, it is primarily the authors and translators themselves who can take the credit for the excellent books they produce. But it hasn’t hurt that they also have an efficient management system for collective compensation funds in Norway. The library compensation funds and copy compensation funds that are part of Norwegian literature policy are key elements in ensuring that many authors have a sound economic basis. The Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers and Translators Association plays a vital role in this connection.
The Norwegian Society of Authors was established in January 2018 as an alternative literary organization.
Our mission is to be inclusive and to represent our members in all matters pertaining to literature, contracts, rights and freedom of speech. Further areas of focus are authors’ social and pension rights, as well as political influence.
The Norwegian Society of Authors strongly believe in the right for all authors to freely organize themselves and to have equal opportunity to influence their own field of work, be it a full time or part time occupancy.
The Norwegian Society of Authors does not discriminate against any literary genre and accepts the whole canvas of fiction and literary writers as members. As a result, authors of children’s books and literature for young adults have also joined our ranks. As Norway is a small linguistic area, hence an area of great importance is to maintain the integrity and position of the Norwegian language, within Norway, against the heavy, global competition from English. On all platforms within the arts, entertainment, education, business, even to some extent policy making, English is challenging Norwegian as the 1st language.
We are equally concerned with the decreased levels of reading activities in society, not least among young people. We will promote literatures’ humane, educational and social values to aspiring, new and existing readers.
Norske Barne- og Ungdomsbokforfattere (Norwegian Writers for Children) was founded in 1947 and has 387 members (as of May 2022). NBU is an independent association. The purpose of the association is to safeguard the professional and financial interests of Norwegian authors of children´s fiction-literature, as well as to protect and promote Norwegian children’s literature.
The NBU is mainly financed through collectively collected fees, including Biblioteksvederlaget (library fees) which are distributed via the Norwegian Writers ‘and Translators’ Fund (NFOF) as individual stipends, scholarships, as well as funds for administration and various activities for writers.
Membership is open to all authors residing in Norway, as well as Norwegian authors residing abroad, when they alone or in equal collaboration with another author have written at least two children’s or young adult books (fiction) which, regardless of written language, have been purchased by the Norwegian Cultural Council.
Other applicants with a minimum of two books are assessed by NBU’s literary council according to further guidelines.
NBU’s motto: The best books for the most important readers.
1) NBU shall ensure good laws and collective agreements for the authors.
2) NBU shall provide advice and assistance to authors to safeguard their professional rights and needs.
3) NBU will work to ensure that more people can make a living from being children’s books and Young Adult authors.
4) The NBU shall be a visible and clear player in cultural policy and public debate to promote children´s literature and the authors’ interests.
5) The NBU shall be the most important academic and social environment for authors of children´s and YA-fiction.
6) The NBU shall contribute to Norwegian literature for children and young adults reaching more readers and being world.
The USW is the successor to Societăţii Scriitorilor Români (S.S.R.). S.S.R. was created in 1909 and has been operating since 1949.
In accordance with its statutes, the Writers’ Union of Romania is a professional association of creators, with a view to making profit from wealth and public utility, with a view to promoting and opening up literatures to the professional, economic, social and moral interests of writers. In addition, it is important to develop and support publications and publications, to ensure that they are translated into and out of the Roma language, to reward literary creativity, to encourage and promote the adoption of private legislation by writers.
In addition, the U.S.R. has set up and administered creative houses and is currently providing for writers, media organisations and memorial houses, as well as for cultural organisations that are involved in national and international cooperation.
The U.S.R. is also organising the social protection of its members.
The Slovene Writers’ Association is a voluntary, independent and non-profit organisation that serves and furthers the professional, social and cultural interests of Slovene writers. The activities of the Association encompass the entire Slovenian cultural space regardless of state borders.
The Slovene Writers’ Association defends, under existing legislation and in accordance with its own nearly a century-and-a-half old tradition, both creative freedom and the position of Slovene literature and its writers. The Association participates in developing laws regulating authors’ moral, material, social and rights, among others. It organizes readings, lectures and meetings, and takes part in cultural events and activities (publishing, librarianship, printing, film, theatre, artistic awards etc.) both at home and abroad.
drustvo-dsp.si
www.facebook.com/drustvoslovenskihpisateljev.si
The SoA is the UK trade union for all types of writers, illustrators and literary translators, at all stages of their careers. We have been advising individuals and speaking out for the profession for more than a century.
Members receive unlimited free advice on all aspects of the profession, including confidential clause-by-clause contract vetting, and a wide range of exclusive offers.
We campaign and lobby on the issues that affect authors and hold a wide range of events across the UK. Find out more about membership.
The SoA also administers grants and prizes to support and celebrate authors at all stages of their careers.
We administer a number of literary estates, the income from which helps towards all our work.
The SoA was established in 1884 to advise individual members and lobby for the interests of authors.
There were a number of previous attempts by authors to band together but shared interests were not enough to keep the harmony until, in September 1883, 12 fellow members of the Savile Club set up a working party. On 18 February 1884 the first General Meeting of the Society of Authors took place.
A Management Committee was elected, with Walter Besant as Chair. A Council of 18 members was also appointed and Alfred Lord Tennyson became the first President.
Frequent publications on authors’ issues were soon replaced by a regular journal, The Author.
Since inception, we have been at the forefront of many successful campaigns for authors’ rights, including the protection of copyright and the introduction of Public Lending Right.
The Asociación Colegial de Escritores de España (ACE) is the main reference, by tradition (in 2017 it celebrated its 40th anniversary) and number of associates, in the defence of the rights and interests of Spanish writers. It is the largest professional organization of writers in Spain and has its framework of action in the entire State, including authors who write in Spanish or Spanish or in the other constitutionally recognized languages of Spain: Basque, Galician and Catalan.
It is made up of associates domiciled in Spain, the rest of Europe and Latin America. ACE provides services, information and legal advice to its members.
ACE is a member of the European Writers Council, which brings together Associations of a similar nature based in the territory of the European Union.
ACE also collaborates with the Spanish Centre for Reprographic Rights (CEDRO), of which most of our members are members.
MISSION
The Asociación Colegial de Escritores de España has three main lines of action:
-The service to its members through different actions, with special use of information and communication technologies to allow the arrival of services anywhere in the world.
-The defence of the role of written culture in all areas that may affect the interests of writers, associated or not. Especially in those that affect national or regional legislation that may have an impact on their social welfare or their professional work.
-The growth of the Association itself as a means to improve its capacity of influence at national and international level, through the establishment of relations with similar Associations all over the world.
AGENDA
1. To defend and promote the rights of writers before Administrations, before publishing companies and other publishing bodies, public or private, and to improve their living and professional conditions.
2. Defend freedom of expression and creation in all fields and formats.
To improve and increase in a sustained manner the services provided to Associates and the presence in projects to promote written culture.
4. To maintain a reliable representation of all the segments of writers that make up the world of written culture.
5. Commit to efficiency and transparency in management.
6. Promote the growth of the Association in number of writers, influence capacity and relations with similar Associations.
7. Advocate for diversity and the direct participation of Associates in the daily life of ACE.
8. To promote the República de las Letras magazine as a means of quality and, at the same time, to maintain and promote channels of participation and expression for members, especially its website Acescritores.com.
9. To promote and maintain a constant dialogue with Institutions and Organisms whose regulatory activity may have an impact on the rights of writers.
10. The promotion and defence of literature written in Spanish and in the co-official languages of the Spanish state.
HISTORY
The Asociación Colegial de Escritores de España was created by the writer Angel María de Lera in 1976 and legalized in 1977.
Among its inalienable objectives were the defence of freedom of expression and creation, the representation of writers in official bodies, participating with their opinions in the laws that concern them, advice and action as it had to do with intellectual property, intervention with publishers on issues related to publishing contracts, and the promotion of intellectual life and the projection of Spanish literatures and cultures in society. All of these objectives can be summed up in one of a general nature: to protect and defend writers in the exercise of their work and to help it receive the social recognition it deserves.
The ACE is the matrix of three autonomous sections:
– ACE Andalucia.
– ACE Theatre: Since 1990, the aim of the Authors and Authors of Theatre entity has been to defend the work of Spanish authors of theatre, as well as to maintain and strengthen their role in the field of stage practice and, consequently, in society in general.
– ACE Traductores: its main purpose is to defend the rights of book translators, to promote the improvement of their social and professional situation and to stimulate the recognition of the role of translation in culture.
In June 2016, the Asociación Colegial de Escritores de España became a full member of the European Writers Council, of which it has been a member ever since.
(espagnol)
La Asociación Colegial de Escritores de España es el principal referente, por tradición y número de asociados, en la defensa de los derechos e intereses de los escritores españoles.
Con asociados en España, el resto de Europa y Latinoamérica, ACE proporciona servicios, información y asesoría jurídica a sus miembros.
ACE es miembro de European Writers Federation, que aglutina Asociaciones de carácter similar en toda Europa.
Objetivos de la Asociación Colegial de Escritores de España:
– Defender la libertad de expresión
– Representar a los escritores en los organismos oficiales, participando con sus dictámenes en las leyes que les atañen.
– Asesorar y actuar sobre cuanto tenga que ver con la Propiedad Intelectual.
– Intervenir ante los editores en temas relacionados con los contratos de edición.
– Fomentar la vida intelectual y la proyección de las literaturas y culturas españolas.
– Y en general amparar y defender a los escritores en el ejercicio de sus funciones.
The Swedish Association of Educational Writers organizes authors of educational books and materials in Sweden. Some 1, 700 authors are members of the association.
The aim of the organization is to safeguard the educational writers’ rights by negotiate general agreements with publishers and authorities, and by offering authors legal advice on copyright and contracts.
We offer educational writers a membership community with several different activities, such as courses and meetings. We also provide scholarships for educational writers.
The members of The Swedish Association of Educational Writers are authors of teaching materials in all subjects for all levels, from pre-school to university. Click here for information about membership.
For more information, please contact our office by sending an e-mail to: adm@laromedelsforfattarna.se
The Swedish Writers’ Union is the central professional organization for writers and literary translators in Sweden. The union safeguards the economic and moral interests of the members by defending freedom of expression and of the press, and keeping up to date with copyright stipulations and the laws regulating copyright.
The Swedish Writers’ Union promotes the right of the members to a reasonable return on their work by safeguarding their moral rights, seeing to it that their works are not misrepresented or made public in ways not intended by them as authors, by entering into agreements which give the members financial gain and provide for their social security, and by protecting and aiding our members when, in the practice of their profession, they find themselves in conflict with employers, commissioning parties or the authorities.
The Writers’ Union office provides extensive membership services. A member may consult the office for individual help with interpretation and negotiation of contracts and agreements, tax counselling, and other issues specific to the professional activities of writers and translators.
The Writers’ Union provides its members with free negotiation services on agreements and copyright disputes. The Writers’ union may also absorb the litigation expenses incurred in lawsuits, for example relating to freedom of the press, if the executive board considers the dispute to be of interest as a matter of principle.
History
The Swedish Association of Authors was founded in 1893, and was initially open to all writers. The bylaws were amended, however, during the 1930s, to some extent excluding translators and writers of non-fiction. This led to the founding of Minerva in 1946, the Association for Swedish Writers of Scientific Works and Works of Popular Science; the founding of The Swedish Association of Writers of Juvenile Literature in 1948; and the Swedish Association of Literary Translators in 1954. In 1956, these four associations merged to form the Swedish Central Organisation of Free Literary Professionals (FLYCO), and in 1970 this organisation was restructured into the present Swedish Writers’ Union.
Today, the Union has approximately 3 000 members. The office has been located in Stockholm, in the “Writers’ House” on Drottninggatan in the city centre, since 1989. The building also houses an international guest apartment with rooms for visiting writers and translators.
International Exchanges
The writers’ unions and organizations in other countries with which The Swedish Writers’ Union co-operates internationally include the Nordic Council of Writers and Translators and the European Writers’ Council (EWC).
The Swedish Writers’ Union also has a long history of exchanges with other writers’ and translators’ organizations, and with individual authors. It receives many visits each year from individual writers and delegations of writers from other nations wanting to learn about it’s activities and Swedish cultural policy, and to come into contact with Swedish literature and writers. The Writers’ Union also initiates study visits abroad for Swedish writers and translators.
In the early 1990s, The Swedish Writers’ Union and the other organizations for writers and translators in the countries around the Baltic Sea held a joint two-week seminar entitled “Waves of the Baltic Sea”, as a result of which the Baltic Centre for Writers and Translators in Visby on the island of Gotland in the Baltic came into being. A similar seminar was held a couple of years later with authors and translators around the Black Sea and the Aegean, after which an equivalent centre was established on the island of Rhodes in the Aegean, Three Seas Writers’ and Translators’ Centre.
WALTIC (Writers’ and Literary Translators’ International Congress), an international congress to manifest “the value of words” was held in Stockholm, Sweden from 29 June to 2 July 2008. Authors, literary translators and scholars from all over the world met during the first WALTIC congress ever. WALTIC was organized by The Swedish Writers’ Union.
A second WALTIC was held in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2010.
The Society of Swedish Authors in Finland (Finlands svenska forfattareförening) is the central organisation of Swedish-language writers in Finland. It was founded in 1919.
The aim of the Society
From the start the Society was described as “purely a professional union of fiction writers, critics and essayists”. The main aim was, and still is, to safeguard the general and economic interests of the Swedish-language writers in Finland and to promote Swedish-language literature in Finland. Problems confronting us at that time, as well as at present, are mostly economical, in addition to questions concerning copyright.
Membership
The Society can be joined by a Swedish-language writer in Finland who has published at least two original works of fiction in Swedish.
At present the Society has 190 members; 89 men (47%) and 101 women (53%).
Areas of special interest
Areas of special interest are contracts between authors and publishers, exercising proper influence on copyright legislation, defending the free lending of books in public libraries and the compensation therefore to the authors (the Public Lending Right-system, PLR), working for more government scholarships to authors and more artists’ state pensions, social security for authors and a lower VAT on e-books as well as books printed on paper.
The secondary use of literature such as copying on paper and digital copying, broadcasting and use in television etc. are handled through collecting societies, mainly Kopiosto, founded in 1980 and Sanasto, founded in 2005.
Representation
It is of great importance to the writers to have representatives in committees and boards dealing with the topics mentioned above – this refers to governmental committees as well as private ones. The Society is represented in all vital committees.
Co-operation with other organisations, national and international
The Society closely co-operates with other similar organisations, such as the Union of Finnish Writers, translators’ and dramatists’ unions and many more.
International co-operation is channelled mainly through the Nordic Writers´ and Translators’ Council, the European Writers’ Council, the Baltic Writers’ Council and the International Writers’ and Translators’ Center of Rhodes.
Unia Literacka is a relatively new writers’ association in Poland, constituted in Autumn 2017 and officially registered in Summer 2019. Our main goal is to represent the community of writers.
During the Covid-19 pandemic we had organised a set of 50 everyday online readings, both to keep in touch with our readers, lifting their spirits, and to raise funds for a system of financial help for those writers (not necessarily members of our association) who were in dire situation because of the pandemic. This campaign, widely recognised, brought us a nomination for Książka Roku 2020 award and, as a result, some funding for our new, professional website and the Impresariat (‘Agency’) website (both still under construction). Impresariat is a platform establishing connections between the organisers of public readings (the libraries, cultural centers and literary festivals, even schools with a broad cultural program) and writers and translators in order to make their contacts easier and more efficient.
Since the very beginning we co-organised (with the Polish Literary Translators Association) a system of literary residencies in partnership either with private founders or the local authorities. The website of this program serves also as a notice board for other artist-in-residence programs in Poland and abroad: http://literaryresidenciespoland.pl/
In with KBF (Krakow Festival Office) a set of contract templates was prepared, serving as a practical tool for the writers’ community, raising awareness about the abusive clauses and a need for protection of one’s copyrights. We are also collecting data in order to publish the first report about the average conditions of the signed contracts.
Unia Literacka participated in a number of official negotiations, for instance lobbying at the Ministry of Culture for the system of social insurance for creative artists; lobbying for the better conditions at the Cracow Book Fair; co-organising a round table of writers, translators and publishers to establish a code of good practices for the Polish book market.
Our concern for the weak position of literary critisism led us to establish – together with Empik, a major retailer of books in Poland – the Critic’s Choice award, promoting books by the lesser known and less promoted authors.
Since its creation in May 22, 1925, the Portuguese Authors Society took on two important areas of activity: the mutualist and the cultural. The mutualist one has allowed thousands of authors to find support in old age and in sickness. As for the cultural one, it remains active, always with new proposals. Especially since the beginning of 2004, SPA turned into a dynamic cultural centre opened to the main schools of thought and creation, with its two spaces opened to the public in its two buildings in the centre of Lisbon.
Exhibitions, book releases, symposiums and poetry and music recitals have transformed SPA in a reference of the Portuguese capital’s cultural life and of the country. Recently, the ex-President of the Republic, Mário Soares, held a conference on one of the most important writers of the 20th century, Aquilino Ribeiro, whose work of major literary and political importance was published in 1958.
On the other hand, SPA has supported cultural initiatives that hardly find acceptance in other spaces, and that is one of its functions in the Portuguese cultural life, where we need to provide room for and give voice to young creators and their proposals.
Sanasto is a Finnish literary copyright society founded in 2005. Our aim is to make it possible for authors to live off their work and to provide users of literary works licences with which the use of literature is simple and easy.
Sanasto manages collected levies for the use of literary works and distributes them to copyright holders. Sanasto provides authors information and legal counselling on copyright issues. Becoming our client is free of charge.
We offer licences for the use of Finnish literary works. With our licence you can for example read texts to an audience, print literature as a part of playbills or other publications and broadcast literature on television and radio.
Sanasto aims at influencing the public debate on copyright as well as related legislation in a manner that is advantageous to copyright holders. Sanasto monitors the development of copyright legislation in Finland and internationally and works for the development of the rights of writers and translators.
The Board
Sanasto’s member organisations are the Union of Finnish Writers, the Finnish Association of Nonfiction Writers, the Society of Swedish Authors in Finland and the Finnish Association of Translators and Interpreters.
Sanasto is directed by a six-person board in which every member organisation has a representative. Our staff takes care of Sanasto’s daily functions.
#FreeAllWords: International Text and Translation Fund of the European Writers‘ Council (EWC) gives a voice to authors from Belarus and Ukraine