I am reporting from the outer reaches of experience, at the crossroads of identity, technology, and transformation. My work draws on a deep and eclectic lineage—modernist and postmodernist thought, multiple spiritual traditions for better and worse, cultural studies, infused with the sensibility that shaped me—1970s New York Punk.

I come from the first, secretly mass-produced generation. Our creation required the intentional separation of sex from reproduction, the stuff of science fiction just two decades before.

I’m a materialist and a mystic, an idealist and a realist. I’m uniquely positioned to think about technology, its impacts and unintended consequences.

I have an original perspective on Freud and the Oedipus Complex . I am a self-experimenter. My influences range from Sophocles to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, to Melville’s ambiguities and Whitman’s “too voluntary and defiant multiplicity,” (as another self-experimenter, William James, observed) to Duchamp, Dada, Surrealism, and the Beats.

I spent 15 years studying and attempting to document the survival of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and played a central role in preventing or delaying its being declared extinct. I have been a playwright, an activist, a private investigator, and an educator. I am the award-winning co-author of 5 books and lectured internationally from 2000-2015. My publications encompass several fields: law (with a focus on Native American issues), sociology (the eugenics movement and the immigration discourse), sexuality, self-help, and ornithology.

Publications:

2025-2026: Recent and pending publications in: ExPat Press, Bristol Noir,Closed Eye Open (Maya’s Micros), The San Antonio Review, Bitter Melon Review, Quarter(ly) Review, The Brussels Review, and TrashLight

“Multiple lines of evidence suggest the persistence of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) in Louisiana”. SC Latta, MA Michaels, TC Michot, PL Shrum, P Johnson, J Tischendorf, M Weeks, J Trochet, D Scheifler, B Ford. Ecology and Evolution 13 (5), (2023): e10017 

“Multiple lines of evidence indicate the survival of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) in Lousiana”. SC Latta, MA Michaels, D Scheifler, TC Michot, PL Shrum, P Johnson, J Tischendorf, M Weeks, J Trochet, B Ford. bioRxiv, 2022.04. 06. 487399

“Foraging Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in the Singer Tract in Louisiana: matching James T. Tanner´s field notes with his photographs from 1939”. MA Michaels, M Lammertink, WC Hunter, TC Michot. The Migrant 92 (2), (2021): 53-63 

“Looking for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in eastern Cuba”. MA Michaels Journal of Caribbean Ornithology 34, (2021): 79-80. 

“Historical status of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Virginia”. B Leese, MA Michaels, The Raven 91, 2020: 4-9

“Spinning the Wheel of Destiny” chapter in Sex Positive Now (with Patricia Johnson, Allena Gabosch, ed., Jeremy Schubb Counseling, 2019)

“Mindful Sex” chapter in Llewellyn’s Book of Mindful Living (with Patricia Johnson, Robert Butera and Ellen Byron eds., Llewellyn, 2016)

Designer Relationships: A Guide to Happy Monogamy, Positive Polyamory, and Optimistic Open Relationships (with Patricia Johnson, Cleis Press 2015)

Partners in Passion: A Guide to Great Sex, Emotional Intimacy, and Long-term Love(with Patricia Johnson, Cleis Press, 2014) 

  • Independent Publisher Gold Medal in Sexuality/Relationships
  • International Book Award in Relationships
  • Readers’ Favorite Book Award in Relationships
  • Living Now Gold Medal in Sexuality/Femininity
  • USA Book News Best Book Award in Self-Help: Relationships

Great Sex Made Simple: Tantric Tips to Deepen Intimacy and Heighten Pleasure (with Patricia Johnson, Llewellyn, 2012) 

  • Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award Winner, 2012

Tantra for Erotic Empowerment: The Key to Enriching Your Sexual Life (with Patricia Johnson, Llewellyn, 2008) 

The Essence of Tantric Sexuality (with Patricia Johnson, Llewellyn, 2006) 

  • USA Book News Best Books Award

Nelkin, D., and M. Michaels. “Biological Categories and Border Controls: The Revival of Eugenics in Anti-Immigration Rhetoric.” International Journal of Sociology and Social Research 18 (1998): 35–64

Mark A. Michaels, Indigenous Ethics and Alien Laws: Native Traditions and the United States Legal System, 66 Fordham L. Rev. 1565 (1998)

Mark A. Michaels and Tonya Gonella Frichner, “War Declared on Religious Freedom,” Native Nations, 1:30, (1991)

Film:

Writer/Executive Producer/Protagonist – American Grail: A Quest for the Ivory-billed
Woodpecker (Principalis Productions 2023). Andy Sarjahani, Director, Jolene Pinder, Producer.
Premiered at Big Sky Film Festival; screened at Palm Springs, New Orleans, Hot Springs, and
Montclair.

Writer/Instructor Advanced Tantric Sex Secrets (Alexander Institute, 2008)

Writer/Instructor Tantric Sexual Massage for Lovers (Alexander Institute, 2008)

Meditation CD:

Ananda Nidra: Two Sensual Meditations for Awakening Ecstasy (Projekt Records, 2012)

Professional Experience:

2007-2023, Ivory-billed Woodpecker searcher/researcher/expert and blogger. Co-founder of
Project Coyote/Principalis, originally an independent effort now directed by the National Aviary.

1999-2015, Writer/Lecturer on Tantra, relationships, and sexuality. Award-winning co-author of
five books with Patricia Johnson; lectured nationally and internationally; offered online and in
person instruction.

1990-2001, Staff Attorney, American Indian Law Alliance/ Deputy Director, Native American
Council of New York City. Worked with indigenous groups from around the world on human
rights and environmental issues, advised the leadership of the New York area Native community
on issues affecting urban Indians, including establishing a legal services program for community
members. Provided policy and legal support to the Traditional Circle of Indian Elders and the
Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy).

1986-1993, Freelance playwright and translator, various works produced and given staged
readings off and off-off-Broadway. Translation of Goldoni’s The Beneficent Bear won a new
play award and was selected by the Charlotte Repertory Theatre for a staged reading in 1993.

1989-1991, Literary Manager, New Voices at Greene Street. Produced monthly readings of new
plays. Responsibilities included reading and selecting material, choosing directors, casting,
directing some readings, and leading audience discussions.

1987-1989, Literary Manager, Roundabout Theatre Company. Advised Artistic Director on
mainstage season, selected material for and produced occasional staged readings, wrote program
notes, led audience discussions, translated and adapted Goldoni’s The Mistress of the Inn for
mainstage production.

1986-1987, Literary Intern, Roundabout Theatre Company.

Education:

B.A. (Honors and Distinction) University of Michigan, 1980
J.D. New York University School of Law, 1985
M.A. (American Studies), New York University, 1994 (McKracken Fellowship)
M.A. (American Studies) Yale University, 1996