1 Million Words For Peace And Freedom Of Speech

A European Project by Authors for Authors

The #FreeAllWords text and translation fund is a joint support initiative for first and foremost Belarusian and Ukrainian writers. It will be coordinated under the umbrella of the European Writers' Council (EWC) and with the participation of its 46 member organisations from 30 countries, as well as with the help of the Federation of European Literary Translation Associations CEATL.
#FreeAllWords was initiated by the authors' associations A*dS (Authors and Translators of Switzerland), Forfatterforbundet (Norway), and the Community of Belarusian Writers (Belarus).

#FreeAllWords will subsequently be extended to authors in the European book sector who deal with anti-war themes, for example in connection with Ukraine and the Russian war of aggression, with human rights attacks or dictatorial regimes, such as in Belarus, or with restrictions on free speech through state censorship or oppressive laws, in their works.

The aim is to establish this donation- and foundation-based project in such a way that more and more European democratic, war-critical and human rights-defending writers' voices, who are condemned to silence in their countries, are given an opportunity to be read and heard.

#FreeAllWords aims to build a bridge of free speech, democracy and understanding between writers, cultures, nations and languages.

Background

In view of the current situations in Ukraine and in Belarus, it is essential to make the voices of threatened, harassed and war-affected writers heard – in Europe and around the world. Their texts, their opinions, their poetry, their written testimonies of the present are a chronicle of one of the most critical situations for the world community since the Second World War.

Translation as key to #freeallwords

The funding of translations into as many languages as possible is the decisive way here, as is the quick and uncomplicated support of writers through text fees, to provide active support in the dissemination of their works and voices. The #FreeAllWords programme has now been designed for this purpose. It was initiated by the authors’ associations A*dS (Authors and Translators of Switzerland), Forfatterforbundet (Norway), and the Community of Belarusian Writers (Belarus), and will be conducted under the umbrella of the European Writers’ Council and the project management of Alena Makouskaya (EWC Board Member) and Aliaksandra Dvaretskaya.

Make it possible together

The first stage of the #FreeAllWords fundraising of 70,000 Euros was reached thanks to seed funding from the foundations Landis & Gyr (Switzerland), the Sophie and Karl Binding Foundation (Switzerland), the Fritt Ord Foundation (Norway) and Kopinor (Norway).
Foundations, support programmes or non-profit organisations are welcome to learn more about the project to consider supporting it.

How you can support:

The goal is at least one million published words for peace and freedom of expression, for understanding between cultures and nations, and as a key contribution in persuading people for a free, democratic, peaceful and inclusive society. Within the framework of #FreeAllWords, short, actual, published, as well as new original texts, interviews, reports, essays, poems and other short forms  are to be translated into European and international languages and disseminated in a wide variety of communication channels – digital, print, blogs, media, other forms. In particular, writers’ and translators’ associations in the European book sector, and also literature institutions are welcome to request texts and bring the authors closer to the public.

Dear European local and International Media…

You are our key “entry point” to make this important social project visible for wide European audience. We hope on your partnership and assistance. We are ready to share with you the contacts of our authors and translators, help with interview and translations. In this case of exclusive interviews, however, we ask for a standard fee to be paid to the translators. Also, you can also pre-register for texts and translations.
Please contact Mrs Susanne Tenzler under media@freeallwords.org to learn more about terms and conditions.

How you can join as a writer:

We ask for your understanding that at the beginning we try to make a selection that particularly reflects the diverse, manifold spectrum of Belarusian and Ukrainian authors and their themes.
We are already in contact with a number of colleagues from the respective national authors' communities. However, you are also welcome to contact us if you do not belong to any of the national chapters.
Please get in touch with Alena Makouskaya, Project Manager and Aliaksandra Dvaretskaya, Project Assistant under contact@freeallwords.org to learn more about requirements, fees and conditions.

How you can join as a translator:

We will launch a call through the EWC and CEATL associations to those translators who translate from Belarusian and Ukrainian and neighboring languages into their native language. However, literary translators who are not members of an association are also welcome to register and be listed in the overview of authors and translators.
Please get in touch with get in touch with Alena Makouskaya, Project Manager and Aliaksandra Dvaretskaya, Project Assistant under contact@freeallwords.org to learn more about requirements, fees and conditions.

CONTACT OPTIONS

Alena Makouskaya, Project Manager, Member of the EWC Board (English, Belarusian, Russian):
contact@freeallwords.org

Aliaksandra Dvaretskaya, Project Assistant, requests from authors and translators (English, Belarusian, Russian):
contact@freeallwords.org

Susanne Tenzler-Häusler, Press and Media Officer, events and book sector (English, Portuguese, German)
media@freeallwords.org