Following on from the launch of their acclaimed third issue in May this year, Ragaire Literary Magazine are preparing for the launch of issue number 4. Once again, it contains a varied gathering of talented Irish and International writers of poems, nonfiction essays and short stories. It is another excellent, distinctive issue, full of unique stories; an Ireland of the strange and surreal, with its everyday notes slightly bent out of shape. David Kenny’s Floating is a wonderful example of this, along with Keelan Gallagher’s tense A Very Big House in the Country, and the painful, cloying dystopia of Ruth Boon’s Any Day Now. There are brilliant, probing works of nonfiction; Iain MacDonald has proven to be a lyrical and discursive essayist yet again with Hillcroft, while Laura McDonagh’s The Big Reveal explores the intersections of grief and identity and what we grab onto in the wake of pain. Many of the poems in Issue 4 have hearts and eyes turned to the night stars’ mysteries, or are focussed on the small, precious rituals of living and interacting with each other in these times of disquiet. Patrick Deeley’s Wonders and Field Instruction by Marianne Daigh give a piercing, exploratory gaze to our world, while others, such as Little Red by Olivia Carroll and Bog Woman by Christina Hession probe the depths and echoes of time’s passage and life’s events. As well as publishing the excellent work of many established writers, we are honoured to again be publishing a writer’s work for the first time in Bríd Ryan’s drily funny poem, Would You Ever Just Lay Off?

The issue will launch on Friday, November 21st at 6:30 pm in The PorterShed (the former Connacht Tribune building) on Market Street in Galway. Issue 4 will be launched by acclaimed New York Times journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Ali Watkins. Ali’s debut book, ‘The Next One Is For You: A True Story of Guns, Country and the IRA’s Secret American Army’, was published in March 2025 by Icon Books. It is a fascinating work of investigative reportage that examines in exacting detail how a small group of Philadelphia gunrunners aided the IRA at the height of the Troubles in the 1970s. Copies of Ali’s book will be available to purchase at the launch.

The Issue 4 launch event will be free but ticketed. Previous launches have sold out quickly, so it is advisable to book early at  www.ragairemagazine.com.

Keep an eye out for updates on www.ragairemagazine.com.