"I salute Antonin Artaud," wrote Andre Breton, "for his passionate, heroic negation of everything that causes us to be dead while alive." The French actor, director, poet, and theorist was an enraged man of arguable genius; nevertheless, his writings are seminal influences on experimental theater. Ar

Absurd, Experimental, Literature of transgression, Severe, Surreal, Surrealist theater, Theater of cruelty, Theater of the absurd

Oscar Wilde pursued a life -- an art -- of pure uselessness. This was not because he objected to pragmatic pursuits, if kept in their proper place: "We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it inten

Aestheticist fiction, Clever, Mythic, Perverse, Surreal, Witty

16th century (renaissance) poetry, 17th century literature, Charming, Dramatic, Epic, Excessive, Grand, Pop

Dramatist Lorraine Hansberry broke social conventions by depicting black experiences of white prejudice. She also broke Broadway records by being both the youngest person and the first African American to win the Best Play award from the New York Drama Critics' Circle. Before that moment, black playw

African american fiction, African american theater, Political, Queer literature, Social protest, Tense