David Alexander McFarland was born April 29, 1948 in Shelbyville, Tennessee, but spent most of his childhood in Cullman, Alabama at the Childhaven Children's home run by The Church of Christ. He found refuge in books as a child, and that continued throughout his life, whether he was serving with the Airforce in Thailand during the Vietnam War or working on the line at the Chrysler plant in Alabama. After graduating from the University of Alabama, Huntsville, he went to Iowa to earn an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. While in Rock Island, Illinois to see UAH professor and mentor H.E.Francis at a local writers' conference, he met Julie Coyne Johnston, and they spent the next 37 years together. He continued to write, mostly short stories, but also a novel, essays, and poetry. He was a "stay at home dad," writing during the children's naps and teaching English and Literature part time at Blackhawk College, Scott Community College, and Augustana College, among others. Upon retirement, he was named Adjunct Professor Emeritus at Blackhawk College. In addition to his life as a reader, writer, and teacher, David was a devout Christian, a beekeeper, cooking enthusiast, competitive swimming official, fisherman, and music lover.

David Alexander McFarland published essays, fiction and poetry internationally, in print and online. Nominated for The Pushcart Prize, he also was short listed for the Iowa Short Fiction Award and won a Highly Commended citation for the 2020 Bridport Prize in England. He taught at literary workshops, especially those organized by what was to become The Midwest Writing Center. In later years, he concentrated almost exclusively on poetry.

In 2018 David was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and many of the poems he produced during the two and a half years of his illness were written in the car during the 250 mile drive to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota where he underwent cancer treatment. He continued to write well into the final weeks before his death on

December 6, 2020.