Following the dissolution of LitProm on 31 December 2024, key areas of their activities, such as the promotion of literary translations from the Global South, were transferred to the Frankfurt Book Fair.
[2][3] On the occasion of the Frankfurt Book Fair's focus on creative writing from sub-Saharan Africa, the society was founded in 1980 by people who were professionally involved in promoting literature, journalism and publishing.
This programme was jointly funded by the Federal Foreign Office and the Swiss Pro Helvetia organization, and allowed authors from countries from the global south to be published in German.
A jury of literary critics, writers and cultural journalists chose seven titles for each quarterly edition and presented their selection with short explanations online.
[2][9] LitProm's online database Quellen (Sources) contained more than 9,500 titles translated into German by authors from Asia, South America, Africa and the Arab world.
[14][15] Since 2013, LitProm awarded their LiBeraturpreis (a word play on liberate and literature) to female authors from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Arab world.