Background
Barker grew up in Mendota, Illinois.
Barker grew up in Mendota, Illinois.
University of South Dakota.
He has written plays such as Kin, Unspoken for Time, and September Bears. He is an advocate for the restoration of the ancient plays of Israel, co-creating Terror Texts (with composers Joseph Barker and Heather Josslyn-Cranson) and And God Said (with composer Ron Melrose). His first play was written and produced during his time in undergraduate school at Greenville College and continued on to earn an Master of Arts at Northern Illinois University as well as an Master of Fine Arts at University of South Dakota.
He has over thirty produced scripts to his cartulary-register
September Bears, his 9/11-based play, appeared off-Broadway in 2003. Sioux Center Sudan Albie’s Honor (commissioned by Saltworks Theatre Company) September Bears Kin: The Trial of Carrie Buck Unspoken for Time (Dramatic Publishing Company, Incorporated) Cross Purposes The Final Approach of Flight 232 (adaptation) When Scott Comes Home Super Bowl/Dionysus The White Leopard (written with Karen Bohm Barker).
Iowa Professor of the Year, 2006 The Endowed Professor of Northwestern College, 2006–2011 Finalist for the Arlin G. Meyer Prize, 2005 (for Kin) Council for Christian Colleges & Universities alumni award winner, 2004 Gold Medallion, the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, 2003, Region 5 Grand Prize winner of the 2002 Iowa Playwrights Competition (for Kin) Medallion Award, Seattle Pacific University, 1997 Meritorious Achievement Award, the Kennedy Center"s American College Theatre Festival, for the script of Unspoken Foreign Time, 1995 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival"s Michael Kanin Playwriting Competition, Second Place nationally, Short Play category, 1993 (for The Final Approach of Flight 232) Teacher of the Year (shared with Karen Bohm Barker), Northwestern College, 1991.
