Background
Clarke was born in Kalispell, Montana, but grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, attending Brophy College Preparatory and Arizona State University before graduating with a creative writing degree from the University of Arizona.
Clarke was born in Kalispell, Montana, but grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, attending Brophy College Preparatory and Arizona State University before graduating with a creative writing degree from the University of Arizona.
He also holds an Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Bennington College.
While living in Phoenix, Clarke worked for financier Charles Keating. After graduating from Bennington College, he moved to New York City, where he worked for Harold Ober Associates, one of the oldest literary agencies in the country, whose clients include F. Scott Fitzgerald, Juris Doctor Salinger, Agatha Christie, James M. Cain, William Faulkner, and many others Clarke has taught creative writing at the University of Massachusetts in Boston and Emerson College.