Ragaire: New Literary Magazine to be launched in Galway

This exciting new Galway-based magazine will champion writers that are offering fresh perspectives and different approaches. Read more about Ragaire here...

Ragaire, a new Irish literary magazine championing inventive and imaginative writing, encouraging readers to explore new pathways in poetry and prose, will be launched in Galway.

The first issue of Ragaire Literary Magazine, founded by Galway natives Cormac Culkeen (North Galway), Tara O’Malley (Connemara) and Aileen McCarthy (Galway City), will be launched in The PorterShed, Market Street, Galway City, on Friday 24 May at 6.30pm. There will be a selection of readings at the event from contributors to the debut issue.

Ragaire is an old Irish word for a person who enjoys late-night wandering and exploring. It embodies the new magazine’s determination to break the mould in the field of Irish literary publications.

"We want to find and promote writers who travel the road less taken and literary work that contains something different in content, structure or form,” says Cormac Culkeen. “We want our magazine to be a light for those travellers, a place to bring their poems and stories, those lines of life."

The first issue contains 10 short stories and 28 poems, and was drawn from around 800 submissions. It contains work by Galway and Irish writers like Fred Johnston and Neil McCarthy, as well as a host of international writers from across the globe. The collection concludes with ‘Two Poets On The Go Bus’ which is a tribute to the late poet, critic and activist Kevin Higgins, and was written by Galway writer Attracta Fahy.

"Each issue of Ragaire promises to be a journey," says Aileen McCarthy. "We like poems that come from around the corner and take us by surprise. We want prose that drives us on to read more."

Ragaire aims to contain at least 10 Galway writers and 10 international writers per issue. The magazine’s editors - Culkeen, O’Malley and McCarthy - also have ambitions to expand the scope of Ragaire in the near future to include Irish language writing and creative non-fiction.

The magazine’s idea of a traveller wandering freely is also embodied in its submissions ethos, as all submissions are read blind to the author’s identity.

"A talented emerging writer will be given the same attention as a more established author," says Tara O’Malley. "Ragaire is a warm and welcoming home for writers of all stripes and creeds, so travel with us through the realms of imagination and creativity, one page at a time."

All are welcome to the launch of this exciting new journey in the field of Irish literary magazines and new writing, taking place in The PorterShed, Market Street, Galway City, on Friday 24 May at 6.30pm

Ragaire is seeking further contributions to its Winter 2024 edition. More details are available via www.Ragairemagazine.com.

Find out more about Ragaire and the launch of subsequent editions by following them on Facebook, Instagram and X.