Poet and playwright Marcus Gardley says that he writes “epic plays.” His works have included the story of an African American transvestite during the Civil War and a trilogy about a tribe of half-Black, half-Native American people who incorporated the first all-Black town in the U.S. His play every tongue confess (2010) was nominated for both the Steinberg New Play Award and the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play and received the Edgerton New Play Award. Gardley is a Visiting Lecturer at Brown University.