Born and raised in Bellingham, Washington, David Mason has lived all over the world. His verse novel, Ludlow, was published in 2007 (2nd ed. 2010), and named best poetry book of the year by the Contemporary Poetry Review and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. It was also featured on the PBS News Hour and won the Colorado Book Award. Mason's memoir, News from the Village, appeared in 2010. Mason has written many essay collections and also co-edited several textbooks and anthologies. His own work can be found in Best American Poetry, The Penguin Book of 20th Century American Poetry, and others. A former Fulbright Fellow to Greece, Mason served as poet laureate of Colorado from 2010 to 2014, and taught at Colorado College.

Mason lives in Tasmania, the island state of Australia.