os Angeles writer Paul Monette’s fiction, non-fiction, and poetry are among the most read and most sustaining works to derive from the AIDS health and human crisis. Monette’s poems and nonfiction set new boundaries for lyricism and social commitment, particularly Love Alone: 18 Elegies for Rog (1988) and Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir (1988). He won the 1992 National Book Award (nonfiction) for his inspiring coming out memoir, Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story.

Born in Massachussetts in 1945, Monette was educated at Yale where he studied under Harold Bloom and wrote his honors thesis on Tennyson’s In Memoriam. His early poet friends included Richard Howard and J.D. (Sandy) McClatchy. In 1977 Monette moved with his lover Roger Horwitz to Los Angeles, writing in and often about the city. Horwitz died of AIDS in 1986 and Monette in 1995.

In an interview with Episcopal priest and writer Malcolm Boyd, Monette stated: “One person’s truth if told well does not leave anybody out.” The inclusive nature of his writing about the specifics of a gay man’s life and impending death in the mid- to late-twentieth century in the U.S. give their exemplary quality to all readers who seek openness in their living and social justice for all citizens.

The conference brings together artists, musicians, writers, poets, and critics – most friends of Monette – for an afternoon of scholarly discussions and readings from his works. In addition, the Department of Special Collections will launch an exhibit of items selected from the extensive Paul Monette papers held by the UCLA Library.

As an adjunct to the conference, the Monette-Horwitz Trust will sponsor a dinner by invitation only at the UCLA Faculty Center.

CONFERENCE PROGRAM

ONLINE EXHIBIT:
ONE PERSON'S TRUTH
Curated by Dan Luckenbill

THE PAUL MONETTE PAPERS