Marcus Gardley, visiting assistant professor of theatre arts and performance studies, was awarded a PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Awards for his work as an American playwright in mid-career whose literary achievements are vividly apparent in the rich and striking language of his work. Gardley wrote his first play barely more than a decade ago as an undergraduate at San Francisco State University. Since then, he has written and produced more than half a dozen plays, including On the Levee, which had its premiere at Lincoln Center this summer and was nominated for 11 Audelco Awards, including one for outstanding playwright; and every tongue confess, which had its premiere at Arena Stage in 2010 and was nominated for the Steinberg New Play Award. In the citation for the award, the committee wrote that Gardley’s “is a voice like no other. He is a true poet-playwright, one who melds a unique handling of the English language with dramatic story, making for mesmerizing theater.”