An American novelist, poet, and historian, he was the recipient of both a Guggenheim Fellowship and a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship. His numerous works include Dolores (1954), An Unfamiliar Country (1953), and The Bonapartes (1966).
He studied at Stanford University during the early 1940s and subsequently worked in the Civilian Public Service as a conscientious objector.
He was born Arthur Lionel Kingsley Evans. Later, he legally changed his name to David Derek Stacton.
He was born in San Francisco, California. He died of a stroke in his mid-forties.
John Crowley praised Stacton's literary work.