There were 23 applications to be considered, representing a sum total of NOK 2,719,000 (EUR 340,000). Nordbok had NOK 1 million (EUR 125,000) at its disposal and distributed this amount among 11 applicants. The following is a brief survey of the projects selected for financial support.

Barents Literature Centre in Northern Sweden receives support towards a seminar and literary arrangement entitled 'White Nights - International Word Happening'. Participants will include authors, translators and other cultural figures from Sweden, Finland, Norway and Russia. The Centre has also been granted assistance in connection with another seminar entitled 'Men seen through the eyes of women'.

The municipality of Brønderslev in Denmark has on several occasions arranged a writers’ school for young people. Initially this was a purely Danish event but in 2005 the course was extended to include participants from Sweden and Norway.

This practice will continue in 2006, when the writers’ course will be attended by 36 young people under the instruction of three Nordic authors.

The Danish homepage 'Litlive' has since 2003 spread information on lecture appearances by writers and provided detailed reviews of new literature. The producers of the homepage now intend to extend the service to include Norway and Sweden and this initiative has been granted funding by Nordbok.

Højby School in Odense, Denmark, receives financial support towards its project 'Bog og Sprog' (Books and Language). This is a web portal aimed at encouraging Scandinavian pupils from 6-16 years old to read the literature of their Nordic neighbours in the original language. Behind the project are school and public librarians from Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

The Nordic Association for Literary Research has been granted funding for its conference 'The Angel of History - Literature, Literary Culture and History', which is due to take place in Finland in 2007.

Greenland is working to establish an organised programme of "easy-toread" projects. The first step will be a 6-day seminar gathering together experts in this field from all the Nordic countries.

The County Library in Narvik, Norway: In July/August the County Library will organise a literature camp for young people in the Barents region. This arrangement has the backing of several libraries in the four Barents countries and has been previously held elsewhere in the region.

The Federation of Nordic Associations consists of organisations from all the Nordic countries and the autonomous regions. Every year the Federation organises 'Nordic Library Week', an extensive arrangement which receives considerable financial support from Nordbok. This year the event celebrates its 10th anniversary and to mark the occasion the Federation will be organising a seminar at the Book Fair in Gothenburg that Nordbok will help to fund. The title of the seminar will be 'Crime Literature in the Nordic Countries'. A transnational literary genre.

The Sølvberget Cultural Centre in Stavanger, Norway organises each year a literary gathering under the title 'Kapittelfestivalen' (Chapter Festival). The particular seminar selected for Nordbok funding is "Little Denmark. What now?", a consideration of the recent changes in the Danish cultural scene and their significance for the other Nordic countries.

The Web-site 'Nypoesi' is an Internet presenter of poetry from all the Nordic countries. The project, which has won Nordbok support, is called 'Site specific texts'.

The idea is for a group of Nordic poets to write texts for publication on Websites belonging to public institutions, organisations, etc.

Since Nordbok will discontinue its activities at the end of 2006, this is the final distribution of project funding. Decisions concerning financial support for translation work will be made in the autumn, the deadline for applications being 1st October.

Translated by Eric Deverill