About Brad Barkley
Writer, Teacher, Occasional Hang Gliding Pilot
Still me before coffee.
The Camaro...loved that car.
Age 14, making bank doing magic (I know....)
Growing Up
Brad Barkley grew up in Greensboro, N.C., where he was often outdoors playing risky games of "Sharks and Minnows" with neighborhood kids until after dark, when someone’s mom would ring a cow bell to call them home. They also rode bikes — no helmets — at "The Pit," a giant hole in the ground where they weren’t supposed to play. Please don’t tell.
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In junior high, he borrowed old 8 mm movies from the library and watched them on a projector in the basement. Alone. Laurel & Hardy, Buster Keaton, silent horror films. His family wasn’t into it. He also performed magic, practiced juggling, and read, of course. My Side of the Mountain was a favorite. Later, A Separate Peace.
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In high school, he played soccer, co-captaining the varsity team at Kernersville Wesleyan Academy. As a teenager, he left behind magic and juggling and got into cars — a ’72 Camaro, and later a ’65 Mustang he rebuilt in his parents’ garage. Reading remained a passion. When he enrolled at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, he wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted to be.
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His dad, an engineer, figured Brad would follow suit. His mom said she thought he’d be a brain surgeon, but she was probably kidding (we think).
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Nobody wanted him to be an English major. Except Brad. A teacher in an early writing workshop encouraged him after he wrote his first short story, about a dying Civil War soldier. Another professor, who taught the class to analyze Beatles lyrics, helped him realize that teaching English could be cool.
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“What are you going to do with an English major?” his parents asked.
“I’m going to be a truck driver,” he said. He was kidding. Sort of.
Becoming A Writer
At UNC-G he studied with epic writers Fred Chappell, Jim Clark, and Lee Zacharias, and discovered greats like Eudora Welty and J.D. Salinger. Summers he worked odd jobs — at Wendy's (where he was told he had "management potential"), a milk bottling plant, as a roofer, and in a warehouse-size ice cream freezer so cold (-32°F) employees had to leave every 15 minutes and stand by a heat lamp.
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His first "real job" after college was as a technical editor for a military contractor in Annapolis, Md., where he held a Top-Secret clearance (Shhhh). It was OK but not very fulfilling. He wrote short stories on the side and took classes at The Writers' Center in Bethesda. He and one other participant (Hi, Marie!) started a writing group, meeting once a month at the Tastee Diner to swap stories over pie and coffee. The group grew to eight and the feedback helped Brad get his first two short stories published. For money.
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So he was off to grad school at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. There he earned an MFA, published his first book of short stories (Circle View), and won a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship while still a student. He delivered newspapers and painted houses to support his family — a wife and two toddlers — while applying for teaching jobs.
Lucas, Alex, and our dear, departed Nellie.
The Tastee Diner, home to my very first writing group.
Kristin and me, as usual, with coffee
Two-thousand feet over Florida
The night I earned my BJJ purple belt
Me, Kristin, and our beloved Millie Grace.
Life Today
After two years at Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, N.C., he landed at Frostburg State University in the mountains of Western Maryland, where he's taught for over 20 years, raised two amazing kids (Lucas and Alex), and written a bunch of books, including the critically acclaimed novels Money, Love (Norton) and Alison’s Automotive Repair Manual (St. Martin’s), recognized as Best Books of the Year by The Washington Post and Library Journal. He's also published two collections of short stories. His short stories and flash fiction have appeared in magazines including Fractured Lit, Flash Frog, The Southern Review, The Georgia Review, and The Virginia Quarterly Review, which twice awarded him the Balch Prize for Best Fiction. His work has been anthologized in New Stories from the South and included in the Best American Short Stories notable lists. He's co-authored three YA novels, recognized by the New York State Reading Association and the American Library Association Best-Of lists. His work has been translated into five languages.
When he’s not writing or teaching, he’s taking a cold plunge, drinking coffee with his wife Kristin, or playing tug of war with their sweet rescue dog, Millie Grace (half Doberman, half Border Collie). He’s also a hang glider pilot, fly fisherman, and a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at SBG Maryland, where he sometimes taps out guys half his age (and always comes home aching and mat-burned, but somehow serene).
His new novel, The Reel Life of Zara Kegg, is forthcoming from Regal House Publishing in June 2026.
