David is the author of Stories Are What Save Us: A Survivor’s Guide to Writing About Trauma (2021, Johns Hopkins University Press), and in 2023, he has two forthcoming books, The Soldier’s Truth: Ernie Pyle and the Story of World War II (set for release on May 30, 2023, Penguin Press), which chronicles the life of renowned war correspondent Ernie Pyle, and Because Data Can’t Speak for Itself: A Practical Guide to Telling Persuasive Policy Stories (January 31, 2023, JHU Press), which he co-wrote with Lauren Brodsky of the Harvard University Kennedy School.
Part writer’s guidebook, part memoir, and part teacher’s handbook, Stories Are What Save Us is a profoundly moving and compelling book that weaves together David’s journey as a writer, editor, and teacher with a wide range of craft tools and storytelling frameworks and structures he and his students have used to process trauma and conflicts in their own lives to create beautiful stories of growth and transformation.
In 2022, David was named the recipient of the George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language for his book, Public Policy Writing That Matters. The award is given each year by the National Council of Teachers of English, and Past winners include author Michael Pollan, comedian Jon Stewart, independent journalist Amy Goodman, investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, educator and cultural critic Neil Postman, and linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky.
David is also a Logan Nonfiction Fellow and has contributed columns to the New York Times Magazine. He also writes for The War Horse, an award-winning nonprofit newsroom dedicated to educating the public on military service, war, and its impact.