The government's crisis support for writers is not enough

The application period expired on May 8, and the Author Fund will now allocate ten of the total SEK 500 million that the government has allocated in targeted support to the cultural sector. By the afternoon of the same day, the Author Fund had received 473 applications.

Jesper Söderström, director of the Swedish Writers' Fund, expects a total of around 500 applications.

- That's a real pressure on us. We will not be able to distribute as much loss of income as you have had to everyone, says Jesper Söderström.

Applicants may have lost anywhere from SEK 10,000 to SEK 150,000. The writer's fund will set a maximum limit for the compensation, explains Söderström, and it is hoped that the money will be distributed within the next two weeks.

- We are aware that this is a big black hole, but we can at least alleviate it, he says, explaining that it is the scholarship activities that are available to them.

- We also welcome all types of business support and more generous application of a-cash rules. But if you can find more money for scholarships, it is justified, and then we will be ready.

Jesper Söderström also emphasizes that the need for assistance will continue during the autumn, but that it will then not be as easy to prove loss of income, which means that the support may need to be designed in a different way.