Tekstforfatterfondet

This fund pays lyricists for the writing itself — words for music, not the recording or the show. There are five streams. A work grant is a fee for writing lyrics on a named project; the board uses the published rate table but says plainly that full fee should not be expected. A development grant of NOK 100,000 supports deepening your own practice, and needs a substantial body of published lyric work behind it — once awarded, you wait ten years before applying in that category again. A travel grant covers a trip relevant to your work as a lyricist, and you must name the purpose, destination and sum. The "Spesielt" stream covers other kinds of text work and is the one category where someone other than the writer can apply on their behalf; any award is still paid directly to the lyricist. The fund also owns a flat in Florence and awards one- or two-week working stays there.

You apply through the fund's own portal, which opens roughly three weeks before each deadline (2 April and 2 November, 13:00). Attach a lyricist CV, a short project description, and three or four full lyric samples gathered into a single PDF, including at least one in the language you intend to write in. You may apply to more than one stream but should not expect more than one award. Recording, performance, debut albums and applications sent by management are excluded, as is anyone who has held a grant or Florence stay in the past two years. Decisions arrive within eight weeks. The guidelines and portal are in Norwegian.