A vibrant media landscape needs a flourishing independent publishing scene, with Rat World part of the exciting new wave of local arts titles celebrating creativity, youth and community. Described as “a magazine for the underground” and published bi-annually since 2022, the latest issue is dubbed The Queer Takeover and guest-edited by Jean Teng, of the food podcast ate ate ate, and playwright Nathan Joe; with support from Auckland Pride, K Road Business Association and Burnett Foundation.

At the issue release party, contributors, supporters and fans packed into Karangahape Road’s Open Late, the cafe and bar’s red light reflecting off the disco ball at the entrance. Copies of the magazine were for sale, as well as stickers and badges: “Vote for Rats” said one.

Editor and co-founder Jennifer Cheuk was at home sick, with graphic designer and co-founder Aidan Dayvyd welcoming the crowd and asking them to record a ‘Hi Jennifer’ group voice note to send to her later. Joe, guest editor and former creative director of Auckland Pride, spoke about the importance of documenting queer culture and history through the medium of print, before introducing the evening’s performances including poetry readings from Zephyr Zhang and Jennifer Sofia Dawn Rockwell.

The latest issue, the magazine’s seventh, contains stories exploring the state of small press in Aotearoa, playlists from local DJs who also talk about "the correctness of queer energy", an interview with costume designer and fashion artists Steven Park of 6x4 and Jieying Cai, "recipes inspired by Pride Night Outs" from Sam Low ("a popper of a chicken sub roll), photo essays from the Pride March and club night Lychee Baby, and much more (buy a copy here; or stockists here).

It also features a beautiful cover photo taken by Ensemble contributor Abigail Dell'Avo of her friend Allié Tran. Abi went along to the release party, and captured some of the attendees.