The aim of The Yellow Nib is to publish good writing by both established and emerging writers. An essay on the symbolism and history of King Kong appears alongside Ciaran Carson's Inaugural Lecture as Professor of Poetry at Queen's University Belfast. Other contributions include new poems by Derek Mahon. Michael Foley, and Francis O'Hare, and translations of Rainer Maria Rilke, Ingeborg Bachmann, and Giuseppe Gioachino Belli. There is also an essay on Stephane Mallarme by Patrick McGuinness and a short story by Susan Ashe.