World AIDS Day: Listening for My Name

Aaron and James read work by writers we've lost to AIDS in this bonus episode.

According to the website for World AIDS Day, more than 38 million people are currently living with HIV. And, since 1984, more than 35 million people have died of HIV or AIDS-related illnesses, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history. Donate here.

Please consider buying the books of the poets we honor! We recommend Loyalty Bookstores, a DC-area Black-owned bookshop.

We dedicated a Breaking Form Episode ("The Invisible Embrace") to Paul Monette (October 16, 1945--February 10, 1995). Monette was the author of 4 novels, 3 books of nonfiction, and 4 books of poems, including a New and Selected Poems  called West of Yesterday, East of Summer (1994). He died of complications due to AIDS on February 10, 1995.

Read more about Essex Hemphill here, and  "American Wedding" (the poem Aaron reads during the show) here.  He published 2 chapbooks and 2 books of poetry, and edited the anthology Brother to Brother: New Writing by Black Gay Men, winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Hemphill died of complications from AIDS in 1995. Watch a short film written and performed by Hemphill called "From the Anacostia to the Potomac" here (~15 min)

Dorothy Karen "Cookie" Mueller (March 2, 1949 – November 10, 1989) was an American actress and writer who starred in many of filmmaker John Waters's early films, including Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble.  Mueller wrote columns and criticism for magazines and papers, and released several books as well, including a memoir, Garden of Ashes. A short film of remembrances about Mueller can be seen here.  In April 2022, Semiotext(e) released Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black: Collected Stories.

Iris de la Cruz inspired the foundation Iris House. You can read more about Iris and the foundation here. De la Cruz died in 1991, leaving a 15-year legacy of fighting for health rights for women/femmes living with HIV. Hear the entire essay James reads ("Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll, and AIDS”) in this video here.  (TW for anachronistic language regarding sex work.)

David Michael Wojnarowicz (September 14, 1954 – July 22, 1992) was an American painter, photographer, writer, filmmaker, performance artist, songwriter/recording artist, and AIDS activist. He died in 1992, having written more than 10 books (including Close to the Knives, from which Aaron reads), exhibited his visual art all over the world, and directed at least two films. 

Melvin Dixon was born on May 29, 1950 and died October 26, 1992. He authored two poetry collections: Change of Territory and the posthumous Love's Instruments. His novels were Vanishing Rooms and Trouble the Water. He translated The Collected Poems of Leopold Senghor.  You can watch Danez Smith read a poem by Melvin Dixon here. Read more work by Dixon here.

Tim Dlugos was born in 1950 and died in 1990. Dlugos authored at least 8 books, including the posthumous A Fast Life: Poems of Tim Dlugos (2011), edited by David Trinidad. Read more work here.