The son of a nurse and a minister, he describes growing up in a home surrounded by books, ultimately leading him toward his academic path, at first wanting to become an anesthesiologist.
Initially not wanting to admit this, Gardley eventually came around to acknowledge that his poems often did incorporate elements of playwrighting.
"[5] Gardley earned the SFSU African American Student of Outstanding Achievement Award for 2000–1 and graduated with his B.F.A.
[1] Gardley's play ...And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi was produced at the Cutting Ball Theater and has earned both positive reviews and two sold-out extensions.
...And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi is a poetic voyage of forgiveness and redemption highly influenced by the myth of Demeter and Persephone.
The play encompasses traditional storytelling, gospel music, and a humor to create a rich and vividly imaginative world.
... it is based upon a story my great-grandmother used to tell about her father who fled the bonds of slavery and traveled the country in search of his family.
[10] The play centers on a black Creole woman who, recently widowed, must contend with the impending loss of her home and the privilege of being married to a rich white man in 1813 New Orleans; the work utilizes dark humor and stylized melodrama to tell the story of female sexuality and race relations.
Gardley was the 2013 USA James Baldwin Fellow and the 2011 PEN Laura Pels award winner for Mid-Career Playwright.