New Shetlander makes comeback as annual publication

THE NEW Shetlander magazine is making its return after an absence of more than three years.

With the last issue appearing in the summer of 2023, the magazine’s committee has now teamed up with the Hansel Co-operative Press.

The ‘new’ New Shetlander has been redesigned as an annual publication with around 90 pages of material.

It contains the usual mixture of prose and poetry about Shetland in the past and present.

New Shetlander no. 302 includes contributions by Beth Fullerton, musing about teenage years in Shetland in the 1970s, and Mark Ryan Smith about Anna Horsbøl’s translation of Jakob Jakobsen’s dictionary.

Linda Riddell writes about an episode in the history of Whalsay in the early 20th century, while Brian Smith reconsiders – but does not revise – his views about violent Vikings.

There are also short stories by Aaron Leask, Yvonne Tait and new contributor Jacques Manilla, while the Young Writers of the Year from 2025 appear.

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The New Shetlander has always specialised in poetry, in dialect and otherwise, and there are numerous poetic contributions, by writers old and new.

There are also review articles about recent poetry collections by T.A. Robertson and Sheenagh Pugh.

The editors of the new New Shetlander are also asking for opinions about its new format.

They said they apologise, not for the first time, that “there is not more material about modern Shetland” – with a hope that there is more in future issues.

New Shetlander no. 302 will be launched in the Shetland Museum and Archives on Saturday 21 November at 2pm. The cost will be £5, cash only.

The New Shetlander appeared first in the voar of 1947.

Everyone is invited to attend and see the latest episode in its 80-year history.

The New Shetlander committee also said it is very grateful to the Shetland Library for its help with the launch.