STILL WITH US: A LEGACY OF HIV/AIDS IN THE ARTS

Organized by the Victoria Arts Council, in partnership with AVI Community Health Services, Belfry Theatre, Dance Victoria, Intrepid Theatre, and Pacific Opera Victoria, this cross-disciplinary project is anchored by an exhibition in downtown Victoria running from 24 October through 1 December 2025. Featuring archival materials, films, and visual art, the exhibit tells a multi-faceted story of loss, advocacy, and hope emanating from the first waves of the AIDS epidemic (1980s through 1990s) and Victoria’s remarkable response. For a full schedule of events, please visit vicartscouncil.ca.

Updated September 17, 2025
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Greater Victoria Public Library
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13th balloon : a poem
Bibbins, Mark
Paper Book
O, The Oprah Magazine, "42 Best LGBTQ Books of 2020" NPR's Favorite Books of 2020 In his fourth collection, 13th Balloon, Mark Bibbins turns his candid eye to the American AIDS crisis. With quiet consideration and dark wit, Bibbins addresses the majority of his poems to Mark Crast...
https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/143269?vp=gvpl&frontend=kui

A compilation of 3 works by pioneering filmmaker Marlon Riggs addressing issues of black gay male identity and confronting HIV/AIDS. Anthem (9 minutes) is an experimental music video asserting a defiant homoeroticism of African American male sexuality. Affirmations (10 minutes) explores black male dreams and desires and is framed by the poetry of Essex Hemphill. Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien (No Regret) (38 minutes) is a poetic and intimate film presenting moving testimonials and portraits of five black gay men. They each disclose their HIV+ status and how they fiercely combat the stigma around the disease. Marlon Riggs died with HIV/AIDS in 1994 and was dedicated to confronting the urgency of the AIDS epidemic in African American communities and especially among black gay men.

Criminalized lives : HIV and legal violence
McClelland, Alexander
Paper Book
POZ Best in Literature Award  Canada has been known as a hot spot for HIV criminalization where the act of not disclosing one's HIV-positive status to sex partners has historically been regarded as a serious criminal offence. Criminalized Lives <...
Derek Jarman's Garden: 30th Anniversary Edition
Jarman, Derek
Paper Book
From artist and activist Derek Jarman, a visual and narrative exploration of his singular, paradisiacal garden, set in a most inhospitable place. Derek Jarman, a passionate gardener from childhood, combined his painter's eye, horticultural expertise, and ecological...
Disco Witches of Fire Island
Fell, Blair
It's 1989, and Joe Agabian and his best friend Ronnie set out to spend their first summer working in the hedonistic gay paradise of Fire Island Pines. Joe is desperate to let loose and finally move beyond the heartbreak of having lost his boyfriend to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The two friends are...
Dog years : a memoir
Doty, Mark
Paper Book
A Washington Post Book World Best Book of the Year Winner of the Israel Fishman-Stonewall Book Award for Nonfiction "Tender and amusing. . . . Doty brilliantly captures the qualities that make dogs endearing." -- The New Yorker When Mark Doty decides to adopt a dog as a...
Don't call us dead : poems
Smith, Danez
Paper Book
Finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry Winner of the Forward Prize for Best Collection "[Smith's] poems are enriched to the point of volatility, but they pay out, often, in sudden joy."--The New Yorker Award-winning poet Danez Smith is...
Frank : sonnets
Seuss, Diane.
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2022 PULITZER PRIZE IN POETRY WINNER OF THE 2021 NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR POETRY WINNER OF THE 2022 PEN/VOELCKER AWARD FOR POETRY COLLECTION WINNER OF THE 2021 LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE FOR POETRY A resplendent life in sonnets from...
Freddie Mercury the final act
Rogan, James (Filmmaker)
DVD
Funeral diva
Sneed, Pamela
Paper Book
Funeral Diva is the Winner of the Lambda Award for Lesbian Poetry! A poetic memoir about coming-of-age in the AIDS era, and its effects on life and art. "Sneed is an acclaimed reader of her own poetry, and the book has the feeling of live performance. . . . Its strength is in...
The great believers
Makkai, Rebecca
Paper Book
PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST A NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 BOOK OF 2018 LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE WINNER ALA CARNEGIE MEDAL WINNER THE STONEWALL BOOK AWARD WINNER Soon to Be a Major Television Event, optioned by Amy...
Kiss of the fur queen
Highway, Tomson
Paper Book
Kiss of the Fur Queen is a powerful and beautiful tale of siblings and tricksters, culture and trauma, and finding yourself in a world that tries to tell you who you are.  Born into a magical Cree world in snowy northern Manitoba, Champion and Ooneemeetoo Okimasis are...
Our story : coming out in the time of HIV and AIDS
Hamilton, Robert (Writer)
Paper Book
This is a story of friendship, love, loss, and drag told with humour and compassion. In 1977, the author, then a naïve young man, escapes his pulp and paper mill town in northern New Brunswick and goes in search of his gay self. After two years studying in Toronto, he moves to Edmonton, begins...
A plague on all our houses : medical intrigue, Hollywood, and the discovery of AIDS
Hillman, Bruce J.
Paper Book
A frightening new plague. A medical mystery. A pioneering immunologist. In A Plague on All Our Houses, Dr. Bruce J. Hillman dissects the war of egos, money, academic power, and Hollywood clout that advanced AIDS research even as it compromised the career of the scientist who discovered the disease....
Punks : new & selected poems
Keene, John
Paper Book
A landmark collection of poetry by acclaimed fiction writer, translator, and MacArthur Fellow John Keene, PUNKS: NEW & SELECTED POEMS is a generous treasury in seven sections that spans decades and includes previously unpublished and brand new work. With depth and breadth, PUNKS weaves together...
Stitch by stitch : Cleve Jones and the AIDS memorial quilt
Sanders, Rob
Paper Book
From the blanket that his great-grandmother made for him as a boy, to the friends he gathered together in San Francisco as a young man, to the idea for a monument sewn of fabric and thread, Cleve Jones' extraordinary life seems to have been stitched together bit by bit, piece by piece. ...
Taking turns : stories from HIV/AIDS care Unit 371
Czerwiec, MK
Paper Book
In 1994, at the height of the AIDS epidemic in the United States, MK Czerwiec took her first nursing job, at Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago, as part of the caregiving staff of HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371. Taking Turns pulls back the curtain on life in the ward. A shining...
There are things that cannot be changed
Frank, Peggy
Paper Book
This time for me : a memoir
Billings, Alexandra
Paper Book
An emotional, funny, and fabulous memoir by trailblazing and award-winning Trans actor and activist Alexandra Billings. Born in 1962, Alexandra Billings grew up in a decade in which being herself was illegal. When she started transitioning in 1980, the word "Transgender" was not...
Weight of the earth : the tape journals of David Wojnarowicz
Wojnarowicz, David
Paper Book
Audio journals that document Wojnarowicz's turbulent attempts to understand his anxieties and passions, and tracking his thoughts as they develop in real time. In these moments I hate language. I hate what words are like, I hate the idea of putting these preformed gestures on the tip of my...

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