Hold Tight Gently: Michael Callen, Essex Hemphill, and the Battlefield of AIDS

In December 1995, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the release of protease inhibitors, the first effective treatment for AIDS. For countless people, the drug offered a reprieve from what had been a death sentence; for others, it was too late. In the United States alone, more than 318,000 people had already died from AIDS—related complications—among them the singer Michael Callen and the poet Essex Hemphill.

“Relevant and heartbreaking” (Bay Area Reporter), “incisive, passionat...