Following the successful launch of its fourth issue in November, Ragaire Literary Magazine is holding an Open Call for contributions for its fifth issue, which will be launched in May.

Writers and artists are being invited to send short stories, creative nonfiction, poetry and cover art for consideration. Submissions will be accepted until Thursday, January 15, or until the maximum number of submissions has been reached, according to editors, Aideen McCarthy, Cormac Culkeen and Lucy Bleeker.

Ragaire has been supported by the Galway City Council Arts Office since its launch in 2024 and they’re delighted that the publication will also be funded for 2026 by the Arts Council, under the Literature Project Awards.

This will support the group to continue publishing high-quality Irish and international writing, according to the editors. The Literature Project Award prioritises projects that connect literature with readers and audiences, allowing writers to develop and create work in new and innovative ways.

The funding also ensures that Galway-based Ragaire can continue to hold its launches in the city’s PorterShed.

The magazine champions emerging writers from the West of Ireland, as well as Irish and international writers who offer fresh perspectives and different approaches to storytelling. Submissions of up to three poems (to a maximum of 40 lines), short stories (1,000 to 3,000 words) and creative non-fiction (1,000 to 3,000 words) will be considered in current Open Call. All work must be unpublished and the authors’ own. Ragaire is also looking for artists living in or from Ireland to submit visual art for the cover of the next issue.

The Ragaire editors read all submissions blind to authors’ identities. That means work submitted by emerging writers who are looking for their first publishing opportunity will be given the same attention as that of more established authors.

“Ragaire is about embracing diverse voices and fresh perspectives through poetry, fiction, or essays,” explains co-editor Aileen McCarthy. “We’re looking for thought-provoking pieces that offer new ways of seeing the world.”

Cormac Culkeen is pleased with the way Ragaire is evolving and says the four issues to date are of high quality.

“They contain moments of disquiet, revelation and capturing those small moments that make life such a surprising thing,” he explains.

Now, with local and national funding the three want to make Issue Five “the best yet”.

Describing Ragaire as “a forward-thinking and open place for compelling new writing’, Lucy Bleeker says the three are “ looking for pieces that stir us and lift us out of our seats”.

For anyone who wants to see what Ragaire likes to publish, previous issues are available to purchase on the website or in bookshops such as Charlie Byrne’s, Kennys’, and Bell Book and Candle in Galway and Raven Books, Chapters, and The Winding Stairs in Dublin.

■ Guidelines and submission links are on the website     www.ragairemagazine.com

Pictured: Contributors to Ragaire Issue 4, from left: Bríd Ryan, Darren Donohue, Kara Barlow, Iain Macdonald, Emma Towey, Valeria Terlato, Aimee Reilly, Saoirse Cross Smith, Anna Delargy Hunter, Maitiú Charleton, Eileen Walsh Duncan, David Kenny, Marianne Daigh, PJ Delaney, Laura McDonagh, Jason Lovell and Olivia Carroll.