Call for Submissions: Yarns 6

01 July 2026

It\'s thon time o tha yeir agane!

Time fairly flies. It hardly seems like yesterday that we were inviting creative folk to send us their work for Yarns 5; yet, here we are again, asking for your latest writing for inclusion in this year's edition.

About Yarns

Yarns is the journal of contemporary Ulster-Scots and Scots writing. It has become an important outlet for the Ulster-Scots creative community, supporting a long tradition of writing in Scots and Ulster-Scots in Ulster. Its purpose is to provide a welcoming space for writers, whether new or more established, while also highlighting the creative connections across the North Channel with Scotland. We hope to encourage writers in Scots to engage with their creative cousins this side of the sheugh.

Over the last five years, Yarns has published more than 170 pieces of new writing by over 50 contributors, many of whom were being published for the first time. Much of this would not have happened without the journal, and we are keen to continue offering this outlet for writers.

What we're looking for

We are now seeking submissions for this year's edition, which will appear during Ulster-Scots Leid Week in November 2026.

We welcome new work in poetry or prose from writers new and old, whether previously published or submitting for the first time. We hope the journal will continue to encourage broader engagement with Ulster-Scots writing, language and themes.

You may submit up to three poems and/or one short story for consideration.

Please send your submission in Microsoft Word format, including your contact details.

If your work is selected, we will contact you for a short pen portrait and a postal address so that copies of the published journal can be sent to you.

Please share this call for submissions with anyone you think may be interested.

Submission terms

The editorial panel's decision on inclusion is final, and no correspondence will be entered into. Submitted pieces must be the original work of the person submitting them and should not contain material written by anyone else or copied from elsewhere. Ideally, the work should not have been published elsewhere.

Copyright remains with the author. By submitting work for inclusion, the author gives the Ulster-Scots Agency permission to publish it and to use it for promotional purposes in perpetuity, with the author always acknowledged as the creator of the work.

Deadline

The closing date for submissions is Friday 28 August 2026. 

Please email your submission to yarnsulsterscotsjournal@gmail.com.