P. Carl
Photo: Annette Hornischer

Writer; and Distinguished Artist-in-Residence, Emerson College, Boston

Holtzbrinck Fellow - Class of Fall 2018

P. Carl is a nonfiction writer and Distinguished Artist in Residence at Emerson College. He completed his BA in English and MA in Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and a PhD in Comparative Studies in Discourse and Society at the University of Minnesota. Carl writes widely on theater, gender, and inclusive practices. The co-founder and past director of HowlRound, a think tank, journal, and knowledge commons committed to building community among international theater makers, he stands at the forefront of creating innovative knowledge platforms and cultural transformation models for arts organizations.

 

In 2017, Carl was awarded a prestigious Art of Change Fellowship from the Ford Foundation. He was named Theater Person of the Year in 2015 (National Theater Conference), as well as an Alumni of Notable Distinction (University of Minnesota). He has served as Co-artistic Director of Arts at Emerson College, Director of Artistic Development at Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago, and Producing Artistic Director at The Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis. Recent contributions as a dramaturg and producer include Claudia Rankine’s 2017 play, The White Card, Melinda Lopez’s Mala (2017 Elliot Norton Award Winner for Outstanding New Script), Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen’s How to Be a Rock Critic, and Deborah Stein and Suli Holum’s The Wholehearted.

Project Description

Becoming a White Man

At the Academy, Carl will continue working on his memoir Becoming a White Man (Simon & Schuster, forthcoming), which explores his transition from being perceived as a queer white woman theater-maker to living fully as a white man. Carl sees this work as “both a searing critique of and a love letter to white masculinity,” and an “intervention into the political conversation of gendered bodies.” In his view, America is perhaps more divided along the gender binary than at any time in its history, with biology “sealing our fate more than ever before.” Carl is keenly aware of the context for his decision to write an account of his personal journey: “I become a white man as white men march in Charlottesville to assure America of their supremacy,” he writes. “I become a white man and feel the incredible love and joy of inhabiting the wholeness of my being.” With this memoir, Carl turns his own story into an exploration of American identity politics, transphobia, gender politics, and love.

Academy Activities

18 Sep 18
Becoming a White Man Nonfiction & Journalism

Holtzbrinck Lecture

Becoming a White Man

“On March 16,2017, at the Chandler Hotel, I become a white man. I cross a line and I join a club that will define my reality going forward."

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01 Nov 18

Beyond the Lecture: P. Carl

P. Carl is a dramaturg, nonfiction writer, theater producer, and Distinguished Artist in Residence at Emerson College. As a Holtzbrinck Fellow at the American Academy in fall 2018, he’s is working on a memoir about gender transition, entitled Becoming a White Man, to be published by Simon & Sc ...

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14 Sep 18

Fellow Spotlight: P. Carl

Writer and dramaturg P. Carl is at the American Academy in Berlin working on a memoir of gender transition. “On March 16,2017, at the Chandler Hotel,” he writes, “I become a white man. I cross a line and I join a club that will define my reality going forward. I become a white man in ...

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18 Sep 18

P. Carl: Becoming a White Man

Fall 2018 fellow P. Carl is the author of Becoming a Man: The Story of a Transition. In his memoir, he writes, “On March 16, 2017, at the Chandler Hotel, I become a white man. I cross a line and I join a club that will define my reality going forward.” ...

Read more
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