Marlin Thomas
Born in Bronx, New York, and raised in Queensbridge Houses. Marlin Thomas was educated at Queens College (City University of New York), Johns Hopkins University, and New York University. He writes academically and creatively. His academic work spans literature, philosophy, and computer science, and it has appeared in peer- reviewed journals and presented at international conferences held in Vancouver, Kyiv, Salamanca, and Istanbul. A frequent contributor to Computing Reviews, his piece on Alan Turing: The Enigma was named the publication’s best review of 2015. As a creative writer, he is best known for FreudMahler, which has been published in English and Italian, and for The Middleman, which was a finalist for Best Play in the 2020 New York Theater Festival. He has also written several several short works for theater. These include Burqa&Rifle, I Never Heard Such Silence, Germaine & Diane, Coming Home to Roost, Speak the Good English, and Queensbridge. He is working on developing Queensbridge into a full-length play. MarlinThomas@iCloud.com.
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REPARATIONS
BLURB
One day, William McCrory, white, wealthy, secure, anxiously awaits a delivery. When knocks come to the door and he opens it, an unexpected figure is there. A mysterious stranger. A black man sharing his name and birthday. Bearing documents recounting their shared history. Why has he come? What does he want? As those questions are answered, painful histories, public and private, are revealed. “Reparations” asks but does not answer questions raised in the pursuit of seeking justice for American chattel slavery and its consequences. What does the present owe the past? Can historical injuries ever be repaired? What responsibility do individuals have for distant sins? How do we measure the current effects of the past? Does repairing require forgetting? Should individuals be held accountable for the actions of their social and racial group?