David typing at his sister Pat’s home in France, 1979.
David Wojnarowicz was a prolific writer—continually expressing himself through journals, essays, memoirs, personal letters, and postcards.
David’s memoirs—Close to the Knives: A Memoir of Disintegration, 1991, and Memories That Smell Like Gasoline: In the Shadow of the American Dream, 1992—continue to resonate with readers today.
Photographer Nan Goldin has said, “From David I learned never to compromise. There was no distinction between his work and his life, particularly in his writing. His writing was his guts spilling out…David had no protection as a person; he felt everything.”
We have included the posthumously published volumes Weight of the Earth: The Tape Journals of David Wojnarowicz and In The Shadow of the American Dream: The Diaries of David Wojnarowicz which were edited from David’s own audio and written journals now in the New York University Fales Downtown Collection.
Explore David’s publications, below to learn more about David’s writing.
