Undergraduate student Silas Switzer published a chapbook on Pittsburgh’s AIDS crisis

After a year of research — and a poetry course at Pitt — undergraduate student Silas Switzer has published his debut chapbook, which documents the AIDS crisis in Pittsburgh.

To tell the story of the epidemic, which began in the United States in the early 1980s, Switzer used medical documents, interviews and other historical documentation to inspire his collection. Archival photos of former LGBTQ+ spaces in Pittsburgh, largely unrecognizable from their modern appearance, punctuate the poems.

“Nine Parts Water, One Part Bleach” is available now from Main Street Rag. Switzer said the chapbook aims to reconstruct a narrative of queerness in Pittsburgh, a story in constant danger of being lost.

"Pittsburgh's neighborhoods have been painted over one, two, three times trying to hide the queer history of our city. I took it upon myself to help chip away at the paint,” said Switzer, a student in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences.

Attend a launch party for the chapbook on March 3.