David Morse was born in Oklahoma and grew up in Arlington, Virginia. He attended the Iowa Writers Workshop and later moved to Norwich, Connecticut, where he taught high school English and wrote a book, Grandfather Rock, inspired by his use of rock and roll to teach poetry. The father of three sons, he married the poet, Joan Joffe Hall, and wrote a debut novel, The Iron Bridge, aided by a National Endowment for the Arts individual grant. Always an activism on behalf of human rights and the environment, David left teaching for investigative journalism. In 2007, with support from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and The National Institute Investigative Fund, David traveled to South Sudan, accompanying three adult “Lost Boys” to the villages they had fled as children under genocidal attacks from Arab militias. 

Morse’s articles and essays have appeared in print magazines such as Northeast, Esquire, Friends Journal, The Nation, and Dissent, and online via Alternet, Counterpunch, Huffington Post, Salon, and Truthout. His poetry and essays have been published in Boulevard, Georgia Review, and other literary journals.

He continues to live in rural eastern Connecticut, with his life-partner, Ilse. White Boy, a memoir published in 2026, is his most recent book.