Archer Magazine Issue No. 16 dives deep into the intersections of identity, body, and mind with raw honesty and creative flair. The issue opens with Elvin Lam in conversation with Jasmine Shirrefs, setting the tone for a collection that’s as personal as it is political. Essays and stories explore the weight and resilience of lived experience — Jane Rosengrave confronts institutional abuse, Beau Windon reflects on loneliness during Covid-19, and Nicole Lee examines gender and madness with sharp insight.
Visual storytelling shines too, through powerful photo series by Frances Bukovsky and Nicole Wheat, and the intimate Desire + Disability portraits that celebrate beauty beyond convention. Contributors like Isis Holt, Chloe Sargeant, and Maybe Leigh tackle perfectionism, allyship, and sex work with courage and nuance, while Julia Rose Bak explores the power of collective liberation. Later pages unpack complex, often unspoken themes — from Patrick Gunasekera’s exploration of dissociative identity disorder to Rose Broadway’s reparenting journey, and Tuesday Atzinger’s confrontation of medical racism.
Archer 16 closes on deeply human notes — with reflections on parenting and disability, asexuality, bipolarity, and kink. Every page hums with vulnerability, pride, and the unfiltered voice of lived truth — an issue that insists identity is never one thing, and that telling your story is its own act of freedom.
