Carlo Handy Charles uses creative writing to disseminate knowledge to audiences outside academia through research-based art. In 2022, he co-authored the play ‘Kap O Mond!‘, which opened in Paris and has since been produced in nearly a dozen theatres in France and the Caribbean. In 2024, he launched Histoire de Louis, his first manga on queer sexuality and migration in Haiti. He is working on his next play on sexuality and migration in Haiti and Canada, funded by the Ontario Arts Council. In 2022, he drew on his public scholarship to co-write with Mark Osmond the synopsis “Pigs to the Slaughter”, which tells the story of how race, ethnicity, sexuality, and socioeconomic status intersect to shape the latest romance and crypto-investment frauds in online dating. He is seeking funding to turn his synopsis into a film documentary.
Theatre
Kap o Mond!
Manga
Histoire de Louis
llustrated by Raphy, the manga Histoire de Louis is an original story inspired by his ethnographic field research on transnational migration and queer sexuality in Haiti. It tells the story of Louis, a twenty-two-year-old queer Haitian man, as he negotiates his sexual and gender identity while navigating a transnational intimate relationship with his migrant partner in the homophobic and precarious socioeconomic and political context of Cap Haitian – the second-largest city of Haiti.
Critical Reception
The manga has been positively received in the French Caribbean and Canada through various interviews, including Radio-Canada’s Matins Sans Frontières, France-Antilles, Zitata TV Show, and Université des Antilles. The commercial version of the manga will be available soon.
“Nous cherchions alors à valoriser les travaux des doctorants et jeunes docteurs, et je me suis dit que le manga serait un support idéal. Ce média est en effet plébiscité par les adolescents et par le grand public : il représente un livre sur sept vendu en France et 26 % du chiffre d’affaires du secteur de l’édition. Le manga est aussi un format plus facile d’accès face aux problématiques d’illettrisme, d’accès à la lecture et de décrochage scolaire que l’on rencontre en Outre-Mer et en zones prioritaires. » Dimitri Béchacq, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).
Creations & Performances
Additional Creations & Performances
2025 – present
Charles is currently writing his new play on transnational migration and queer sexuality in Haiti. His play is funded by the Ontario Arts Council and is artistically supported by the Théâtre français de Toronto.
2022 – present
Charles collaborated with Mark Osmond to co-write the film documentary “Pigs to the Slaughter”, which tells the story of how race, ethnicity, sexuality, and socioeconomic status intersect to shape the latest romance and crypto-investment frauds in online dating. He is seeking funding to complete this project.
2016
He collaborated with Artist Ali Zaidi, a former Chelsea College, London, United Kingdom faculty member, on the socio-artistic project Hyper Real Portraits of Gender. I participated in a non-structured interview about perspectives and experiences of gender inequality among Caribbean nationals living in Europe. Retrievable here.
2015
He played the role of Rudi in Manfred Karge’s play La conquête du pole Sud au festival Coups de Théâtre de l’Université Lumière Lyon 2, France. Retrievable here.
2014-2016
He played the lead role of Walter in three promotional videos to welcome new students at the Université Lumière Lyon 2. The videos were professionally shot and produced by Students Success Services and screened by over eight thousand new students during orientation weeks at the university.
2008-2009
He directed and acted in the feature film Rescapé d’la Vengeance, produced by the Haitian Scenario Company in Cap-Haitian, Haiti.
2004-2008
He wrote, directed, and acted in six plays, T-Zo, La Revanche de Valérie, Sandra face à son destin, Stigmate, l’Erreur fatale, and “Reginald” for my theatre troop ANGEPECH in my native Cap-Haitian, Haiti.
