About Ian Farnes

I'm a creative writing teacher, writer and translator from Fife, Scotland, now living in Barcelona. Before studying for an MA Arts degree at The University of Glasgow, I worked as a manual labourer, in call centres and in factories. Just like you, my story is unique.

My journey into writing started with writing about the jobs I'd done in the past, mainly because I hadn't read stories about that kind of life very often.

The first story I had published was with "thi wurd" in Glasgow (their name is taken from a Tom Leonard poem) and was more or less about Sisyphus working in a chicken processing plant.

I have since been published as a poet and writer of prose in many different places. My debut poetry pamphlet, Burntisland, was published by ignition press in March, 2025.

After university I worked as an educator, attempting to teach young people about the joys of language and literature

I now work as a literary translator (Spanish to English) and offer private creative writing lessons, or group lessons, to people who want to express themselves in writing. If you want to do this in person, I can also act as your guide around the cultural and artistic life of Barcelona!

I am especially interested in helping adults who have little or no background in the arts to find a way to use literary art to tell their stories, or to tell others about themselves.

I also offer creative feedback and editing services, either as part of a translation service, or for pieces written in English.

As a translator, I have a track record of translating complex, long form pieces to schedule and with the accuracy, or feeling, that is required. I can count academic texts, film scripts, short stories, children's books, comic strips and poetry, including articles for magazines and catalogues for publishers, among the work I've completed for clients.

Please use the contact form if any of this is of interest!