David Bradley, born September 7, 1950, is the only son of Harriet Bradley and Rev. D. H. Bradley, Sr. He grew up in Bedford, Pennsylvania, and attended local public schools before graduating from Bedford Area High School in June 1968. Bradley continued his education at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated summa cum laude in 1972 with majors in English and creative writing. He later pursued graduate studies at King’s College London, earning an MA in United States Area Studies.

Throughout his academic career, Bradley received several prestigious accolades, including being named a National Achievement Scholar, a Presidential Scholar, and a Benjamin Franklin Scholar. Additionally, he was awarded the Thouron British-American Exchange Scholarship.

During an interview with the New York Times Book Review, Bradley reflected on his experiences growing up in a predominantly white rural community during the 1960s and 1970s. He acknowledged feeling a stronger connection to the working-class Black community he encountered at a neighborhood bar on South Street in Philadelphia. These experiences inspired his debut novel, South Street, which he began writing while still in college.

Published in 1975, South Street portrays life in a Philadelphia neighborhood through three social and cultural hubs: Lightnin' Ed's Bar and Grill, the Elysium Hotel, and the Word of Life Church. The novel explores the lives of five characters who frequent these establishments and the shared struggles that unite them. Bradley’s writing, characterized by wit and irony, led some critics to compare his style to that of comedian Richard Pryor. However, some reviewers critiqued the novel’s multiple perspectives, arguing that their relationship to one another lacked clarity.

Bradley’s second novel, The Chaneysville Incident (1981), brought him widespread recognition and won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 1982. The novel was inspired by historical events near his hometown, uncovered by his mother, a historian. Her research revealed the unmarked graves of 13 enslaved individuals who, according to local legend, had chosen death over recapture while attempting to escape via the Underground Railroad. Initially, Bradley wrote a collection of unpublished short stories on the subject before developing the material into a novel.

Since 1985, Bradley has focused primarily on creative nonfiction, contributing to publications such as Esquire, Redbook, The New York Times, The Nation, The Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, and Dissent. His more recent works have appeared online in Obit, Narrative, and Brevity. Notably, his short story "You Remember the Pin Mill," published in Narrative in 2012, received the O. Henry Award in 2014.

In addition to his essays and articles, Bradley has contributed introductions and articles to editions of works by authors such as Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Richard Wright, William Melvin Kelley, and Edmund Wilson. He co-edited The Encyclopedia of Civil Rights in America (1998) and The Sport of the Gods and Other Essential Writings of Paul Laurence Dunbar (2005). Bradley has received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Bradley served as an Associate Professor of Fiction in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Oregon.