Written Word
Writers
Current favorites:
- Patrick Rothfuss
All-time favorites:
- James Baldwin
- Marion Zimmer Bradley
- Octavia Butler
- Samuel Delany
- Charles Dickens
- E.M. Forster
- Christopher Isherwood
- P.K. Jemisin
- James Joyce
- Franz Kafka
- Klaus Mann
- Mary Renault
- Anne Rice (aka A.N. Roquelaire)
- Starhawk
- Neal Stephenson
- Mark Twain
- Gore Vidal
- Katie Waitman
- Scott Westerfeld
- Edmund White
Fiction
Current favorites:
- The Merro Tree by Katie Waitman
All-time favorites:
- The Catch Trap by Marion Zimmer Bradley
- The Naked Civil Servant by Quentin Crisp
- Something in Between by Melissa de la Cruz
- Tides of Lust by Samuel Delany
- A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood
- The Broken Earth Trilogy by P.K. Jemisin
- The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions by Larry Mitchell
- 1984 by George Orwell
- Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercey
- The Time of Our Singing by Richard Powers
- The Golden Compass trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass) by Philip Pullman
- The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault
- The Persian Boy by Mary Renault
- The Kingkiller Chronicle (The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear) by Patrick Rothfuss
- The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk
- The Uglies series (Uglies, Pretties, Specials, Extras) by Scott Westerfeld
- Nocturnes for the King of Naples by Edmund White
Poetry
Current favorites:
- “Nipples and Cocks” by James Broughton
All-time favorites:
- “Howl” by Allen Ginsberg
- “Harlem” (“What happens to a dream deferred?”) by Langston Hughes
- “We Two Boys Together Clinging” and “Glimpse Between an Interstice Caught” by Walt Whitman
Non-Fiction
Current favorites:
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Runaway Inequality by Les Leopold
All-time favorites:
- A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander
- The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
- Biological Exuberance by Bruce Bagemihl
- Christianity, Homosexuality, and Social Tolerance by John Boswell
- Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe by John Boswell
- Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict by Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan
- Commitment and Community by Rosabeth Moss Kanter
- The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein
- Mutual Aid by Peter Kropotkin
- The Ego Tunnel by Thomas Metzinger
- Small Is Beautiful by E.F. Schumacher
- The Politics of Nonviolent Action by Gene Sharp
Ending Racism:
- How to Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
- Uprooting Racism by Paul Kivel
- My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem
Theatre
Playwrights
Current favorites:
- Martin Sherman
All-time favorites:
- William Shakespeare
- Oscar Wilde
- Tennessee Williams
Plays
Current favorites:
- Slowly Down the Stream by Martin Sherman
All-time favorites:
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare (I did an adaptation called A Midwinter Afternoon’s Nightmare with the faeries)
- The Nether by Jennifer Haley
Film / Movies / Television
Film Directors
Current favorites:
- None
All-time favorites:
- Pedro Almodóvar
- Rainer Werner Fassbinder
- Peter Greenaway
- Derek Jarman
- Stanley Kubrick
- Ang Lee
- Michael Moore
- Sergei Paradjanov
- Pier Paolo Pasolini
- Wachowskis
- John Waters
- Wim Wenders
Full-Length Films
Current favorites:
- Angels in America
- Born in 68
- Hidden Figures
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower
- Pride
All-time favorites:
- Arabian Nights
- Avatar
- Barry Lyndon
- Beautiful Boxer
- Cinema Paradiso
- A Clockwork Orange
- Crash
- The Decameron
- The Devil’s Backbone
- Dorian Blues
- The Dreamers
- Eating Out
- Eighteen
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Harold and Maude
- The Hawks and the Sparrows
- In America
- Johanna d’Arc of Mongolia
- Johnny Got His Gun
- Latter Days
- Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont
- Oedipus Rex
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
- Pink Flamingos
- Rabbit-Proof Fence
- Ride With the Devil
- Running on Empty
- Sebastiane
- Something the Lord Made
- Songcatcher
- Stage Beauty
- Sunshine
- Teorema
- Under Milk Wood
- Whale Rider
- What Have I Done to Deserve This?
- What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Documentaries
Current favorites:
- The Square
All-time favorites:
- Anarchism in America
- Capitalism: A Love Story
- An Inconvenient Truth
- Iron Jawed Angels
- Salt of the Earth
- Sicko
- The Take
TV Series
Current favorites:
- Dear White People
- Diriliş: Ertuğrul (English: “Resurrection: Ertuğrul”)
All-time favorites:
- Coppers
- Elementary
- Game of Thrones
- The Get Down
- The Good Doctor
- The Handmaid’s Tale
- Orange Is the New Block
- Orchid Black
- Sense8
- Shades of America
- The Simpsons
- True Blood
- Underground
- Will
Other Visual Art
Painters
Current favorites:
- Banksy
All-time favorites:
- Aubrey Beardsley
- Friedensreich Hundertwasser
- Gustav Klimt
- Gustave Moreau
- Pablo Picasso
- Odilon Redon
- Vincent van Gogh
Paintings
Current favorites:
- Guernica by Pablo Picasso
All-time favorites:
- Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt
- Buddha Walking Among the Flowers, The Druidess, Muse on Pegasus, Reflection, and Sacred Heart by Odilon Redon
- Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh
Sculpture
Current favorites:
- None
All-time favorites:
- David by Donatello
Architecture
Current favorites:
- None
All-time favorites:
- Taj Mahal designed by Ustad Ahmad (a.k.a. Isa Khan)
- Casa Battlo designed by Antoni Gaudi
- Park Guell by Antoni Gaudi
- La Sagrada Familia designed by Antoni Gaudi
Music
Classical Composers
Current favorites:
- Sergei Prokoviev
All-time favorites:
- Samuel Barber
- Frédéric Chopin
- Claude Debussy
- George Enescu
- Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
- Gordon Jacob
- Erik Satie
Chamber Music
Current favorites:
- Octet for Strings by George Enescu
All-time favorites:
- Pastorale by Amy Beach
- String Quartet No. 2, III. Notturno, by Alexander Borodin
- Trio by Madeleine Dring
- Octet for Strings by George Enescu
- Cumberland Suite by Eric Ewazen
- An Evening in Georgia by Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
- Sextet, especially Cortege movement, by Gordon Jacob
- Sextuor by Francis Poulenc
- Three Romances by Robert Schumann
- Trio for Oboe, Horn, and Piano by Carl Reinecke
- The Golden Canon by Nikola Resanovic
Classical Orchestral/Band Works
Current favorites:
- Mtsiri by Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
All-time favorites:
- Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber
- Pictures of an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky (arranged by Maurice Ravel)
Popular Musical Artists
Current favorites:
- The Black Angels
All-time favorites:
- The Beatles
- David Bowie
- Cream
- Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young
- Brian Eno
- Nina Hagen
- Jimi Hendrix
- Joni Mitchell
Popular Music
Current favorites:
- “Currency” by The Black Angels
All-time favorites:
- “Blue” by Joni Mitchell
- “Woodstock” by Joni Mitchell (also version performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young)