David Coggins is an award-winning writer, artist, and set designer. Books by Coggins include Word Jazz (2022), Duet (2021), Blue: A St. Barts Memoir (2018), Paris in Winter: An Illustrated Memoir (2015), Eden Summer Collages (2008), and The Nostalgic Heart (2006), among others. His eight-volume set of the Daybooks, published under the pseudonym Robert Carolina, is in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Coggins’ paintings, drawings, and collages have been exhibited in Paris, London, and Santiago, Chile as well as in U.S. galleries. He has also designed for a number of U.S. theaters including Théâtre de la Jeune Lune, Guthrie Theater, and La Jolla Theater. Coggins currently lives with his wife Wendy in Minneapolis and his loft studio located in an old warehouse was featured in Cabana Magazine's online blog.