Writer and filmmaker John Waters will sign copies of three new books at Atomic Books in Hampden on May 21, the Falls Road retailer announced on its website.
“Save the date – May 21st, 7 p.m.,” Atomic Books’ website says. “A book signing for the first three of six of John’s screenplays being released this year!”
“This is your chance to grab a piece of cult cinema history and meet the master of bad taste,” teases a John Waters social media fan site, which calls the book signing an “event you do NOT want to miss!”
Picador USA, a division of Macmillan Publishers, is publishing six books by Waters this year, each containing a screenplay he wrote decades ago. Five are screenplays for movies he directed and one was written for a proposed movie sequel that wasn’t made.
The three screenplay books coming out in May are: “Pink Flamingos: A Screenplay,” written for the 1972 comedy; “Desperate Living: A Screenplay,” written for the 1977 comedy; and “Flamingos Forever: A Screenplay,” a never-filmed sequel to “Pink Flamingos.” Picador USA has set May 27 as the official publication date for the books and set a list price of $15 for each one. Some online retailers, including thriftbooks.com, are taking preorders for even less.
Others in the 2025 series include screenplays for “Hairspray,” “Female Trouble” and “Multiple Maniacs.” Picador and Macmillan have set Oct. 21, 2025 as the publication date for those books and the list price as $16 or $17.
All of the screenplays have been published before. In 1988, Random House published one volume entitled “Trash Trio: Three Screenplays by John Waters,” that contains the “Pink Flamingos,” “Flamingos Forever” and “Desperate Living” screenplays. In 2005, Running Press Adult published a volume that contains the “Hairspray,” “Female Trouble” and “Multiple Maniacs” screenplays, with an introduction by Waters.
The new series reflects an effort by Macmillan to capitalize on continued strong interest in Waters from both longtime admirers and a new generation that is just being exposed to his work from his spoken-word performances, appearances in television shows such as “Chucky” and “Search Party,” and clips on TikTok and other social media platforms.
One difference between the earlier books and the new ones is that the screenplays are printed as separate volumes, and the books all have colorful covers by artist Wayne Hollowell. Each cover depicts one of the stars from the screenplay, including Harris Glenn Milstead, also known as Divine; Edith Massey; Mink Stole; Ricki Lake and Lobstora.
Atomic Books, where the filmmaker gets his fan mail, is located at 3620 Falls Road in Hampden. John Waters book signings there are festive events in which fans start lining up several hours before the doors open, and the line often wraps around the block. Some fans come dressed like characters from Waters’ movies, or in the spirit of his movies. There are always plenty of hair hoppers and hipsters. Waters, 78, is good natured through it all and generous in the time he spends chatting and reminiscing with his fans, and he’ll typically also sign other Waters-related items from the store. Some fans ask him to autograph body parts or other personal items, such as Cha Cha heels, and he’s done that too in the past.
A Picador representative said Waters will have a second book signing this summer in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and the date and place are still being confirmed.
Hall of Fame award for Van Smith
The book signing is one of many events on the filmmaker’s calendar for 2025.
This week Waters will be in Los Angeles to help honor the late Walter Avant “Van” Smith, the costume designer and makeup artist who worked on all of Waters’ movies from 1972 to 2004 and was one of the Dreamlanders, his ensemble of regular cast and crew members.
Smith, who died of a heart attack in 2006 at age 61, is being honored posthumously by the Costume Designers Guild at its 27th annual Guild Awards ceremony on Feb. 6 at The Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles. The Guild chose Smith to receive its Edith Head Hall of Fame Award and Waters will present it.
“Van Smith’s costumes are one of the main reasons my films’ popularity with the twisted public has lasted over the decades,” Waters said in a statement. “I called him my ‘ugly expert,’ but his celluloid creations ushered in a new kind of radical beauty. You can’t think of Divine without giving Van the ultimate credit – he created this fashion monster’s look that still is alarming audiences all over the world.”
Named after a legendary designer, the Edith Head award celebrates “visionary designers whose groundbreaking work has left an indelible mark on the art of costume design.” Smith, who was born in Florida and came to Baltimore to study at the Maryland Institute College of Art, started working with Waters on “Pink Flamingos” in the early 1970s.
Smith and Waters collaborated to create Divine’s distinctive look in “Pink Flamingos,” now part of the National Film Registry at the U. S. Library of Congress. That look included a white clown face base and a shaved-back hairline with the eyebrows drawn on the upper forehead. Waters has said he wanted Divine’s make-up to look like a cross between Jayne Mansfield and Clarabell the Clown. They also created Divine’s iconic red dress, which appeared on posters for the film and has been echoed by many other celebrities over the years, including actress Isabelle Huppert at the Met Gala in 2021.
“From the extreme outfits of the flamboyant criminals and hair dressers in “Female Trouble” (1974) to the grotesque citizens of Mortville in “Desperate Living” (1977), Smith contributed his extraordinary talent to 10 of Waters works, showcasing his versatility as he delivered both conventional and ironic looks in the later, more mainstream films like Cry Baby (1990) and Serial Mom (1994),” according to the Guild’s announcement of the award.
“Van Smith was admiringly called both an artist and a terrorist for the costumes and makeup he designed for the films of John Waters,” The New York Times said in its obituary of him.
“I design the costumes,” Smith once recalled in an interview. “The makeup, John gives me an idea. He says, ‘Shave her head.’ He says, ‘I want this part here’ or this sort of thing, which he takes from whatever motivates him or inspires him. Then he tells me and I sort of work it out for him and if he likes it he says yes or if it’s supposed to be this way, he tells me that. We work a little bit together and I just put it together for him.”
Camping with Amy Locane and others
Waters has tapped actress Amy Locane to be one of his camp counselors during the 2025 edition of Camp John Waters, the annual “All-Inclusive Dreamland Sleepaway Weekend” for his superfans at Club Getaway in Kent, Connecticut. This year’s dates are Sept. 5 to 8, and the other guest counselors will be Stephen Dorff and Mink Stole.
Locane, now 53, starred as Allison Vernon-Williams in Waters’ 1990 comedy “Cry-Baby” and went on to land roles in Melrose Place on television and the 1992 film “School Ties” with Matt Damon and Brendan Fraser. In 2013, she was convicted of vehicular homicide and assault after a 2010 New Jersey car crash that killed a 60-year-old woman and severely injured the woman’s husband. After the accident, Locane’s blood alcohol was tested and indicated she was nearly three times the legal limit of impairment.
In September 2020, Locane began serving an eight-year sentence in New Jersey State Prison for the fatal crash. She had previously been sentenced to three years in prison, of which she served two and half years and was released on parole. She was re-sentenced after another judge determined that her original sentence was too lenient.
Locane was released from prison around Dec. 20, 2024. Waters received applause when he mentioned during his Christmas show in Baltimore that she would be a camp counselor in 2025 – one of her first engagements since leaving prison.
Provincetown Film Society’s 2025 Winter Auction
Waters is one of many contributors who are helping raise funds to support the Provincetown Film Society during its annual winter auction, which began on Feb. 1 and ends on Feb. 10.
For this year’s auction, Waters donated a “Collection of John Waters Rare Memorabilia,” with a starting bid of $1,000. There are 11 pieces of varying age and size, all in ‘very good’ condition, including a pink “King of Filth” John Waters figurine.
“Rare memorabilia from the personal collection of the Pope of Trash, John Waters,” the auction listing states. “Posters, hand bills and magazine covers, each to be autographed, personalized to you or others, or as is – your choice.”
Another contributor donated a signed copy of Waters’ rare Sub Pop recording, “Prayer to Pasolini,” a tribute to the Italian film director Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Other auction items include: Dinner for two with actor Murray Bartlett; a voicemail greeting recorded by actress Kathleen Turner; VIP tickets to see “RuPaul’s Drag Race Live!” in Las Vegas; a whale watching adventure; stays at local hotels and more.
Mosswood Meltdown
Waters will once again host Mosswood Meltdown, the annual punk rock festival at Mosswood Park in Oakland, California, that has been called “The Warped Woodstock.”
This year’s dates are July 19 and 20. Headliners include Devo on July 19 and Shannon & The Clams on July 20. Other performers include: Osees; The Exploding Hearts; Bleached; Snooper; Kreayshawn; La Luz; L’Trimm; The Kids and Giuda. Passes are now on sale at mosswoodmeltdown.com
Filmmaking masterclass
Next month, Waters will travel to Glen Ellyn, Illinois to teach a master class on filmmaking for students at The College of DuPage. It’s the highlight of a semester-long class on Film Directors and Authorship led by English professor (and Waters fan) Michelle Moore.
Moore’s class is meeting once a week this semester to screen and discuss Waters’ films as well as other movies and books that have influenced him. Moore is also co-editing a book of essays for Edinburgh University Press entitled “ReFocus: The Films of John Waters,” and it’s expected to come out later this year.
Adjusting to a new car
In Baltimore, Waters drives a new car that he got after his last one, a 2015 Buick LaCrosse, was damaged when it was struck by a Chevrolet cargo van at the intersection of Falls and Joppa roads last May – an accident that was not the filmmaker’s fault.
Waters has a reputation for driving non-flashy cars; a Baltimore Fishbowl correspondent once saw him driving a gray Buick sedan in the crowded parking lot at the old Stewart’s department store on York Road during the Christmas shopping season. He admitted to his Baltimore Soundstage audience in December that he still doesn’t know what kind the new one is because “they all look the same,” and he seems to like it that way.
“I don’t want a car you can describe,” he quipped. “Suppose I do a hit-and-run?”
He also said he doesn’t understand why people get vanity plates.
“I want the hardest license plate ever to remember” — in case he ever happens to be driving the getaway car in a bank robbery, he said.
Not smitten with Luigi Mangione
Waters told the Baltimore Soundstage audience that he was disappointed no one from the gay media asked him his opinion about Luigi Mangione, the 2016 Gilman School valedictorian who has been accused of murdering United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan on Dec. 4. Mangione was arrested while eating a McDonald’s Hash Brown in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Both Waters and Mangione are from the Baltimore area and, even more specifically, upscale Catholic families near Towson. Both are also known for their facial hair – Waters for his thin mustache and Mangione for his thick eyebrows.
Mangione has developed a following of fans who admire his looks, just as admitted criminal Robert Chambers Jr. gained notoriety as “The Preppy Killer” following the strangulation death of 18-year-old Jennifer Levin in New York’s Central Park in 1986. Charged with second degree murder, Chambers pleaded guilty to manslaughter after a jury failed to reach a verdict after nine days of deliberation.
In an interview with Paper magazine, Waters said he’s not all that impressed by Mangione’s looks.
“I mean, he’s not that cute,” Waters said. “He’s alright.”
But then why so many admirers?
“I did say in one of my early books, ‘Everybody looks better under arrest,” Waters said. “I think that has something to do with it.”
In the interview, Waters warned readers against becoming smitten with Mangione’s appearance.
“I taught in prison,” the publication quoted him as saying. “I help people get out of jail. I have to take that a little more seriously today. He was a terrorist, is what he is, and it was a terrorist act that worked certainly. But he definitely is a terrorist.”
Waters said he was initially concerned that he and Mangione, 26, may have crossed paths.
“At first I thought, ‘Oh God, I wonder if he was ever in one of my movies,’ ” he said. “But no, he’s too young. I was relieved to find that out.”
‘A Date with John Waters’ and other performances
On Feb. 14 Waters will appear at Baltimore Soundstage, 124 Market Place, for his annual Valentine’s Day spoken-word performance, “A Date with John Waters.” Doors open at 7 p.m. and tickets are still available at Baltimoresoundstage.com.
In conjunction with his college masterclass, Waters will appear at a screening of“Hairspray” at The Mac in Glen Ellyn on March 16. He’ll return to City Winery in Manhattan on April 22 to perform his latest spoken-word show, “The Naked Truth,” and mark his 79th birthday that day. He’ll have Naked Truth birthday shows at City Winery in Philadelphia, Pennsvylania, on April 23 and City Winery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 24.
Other appearances will be at the Newton Performing Arts Center in Newton, North Carolina, on March 21; Kenan Auditorium at the University of North Carolina Wilmington campus on March 22; Munson Museum in Utica, New York, on April 10; the Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas, on April 19 as part of the Moontower Comedy Festival; The Civic Theater in New Orleans, Louisiana, on April 20; and The Waldo Theater in Boothbay Harbor, Maine on June 20.
