Chapman was born and raised in Chicago and then studied theatre at the University of Michigan. His first published work was a story in Analog Science Fiction and Fact in 1969. As a rule his work is more fable-like in tone and surreal than is common for that magazine. He also had several stories in Damon Knight's Orbit anthologies. From the late 1970s, he was primarily published in small literary magazines. A collection of his stories was published, titled Dossier.[2]
