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{{Short description|American author (1948–2024)|bot=PearBOT 5}}
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'''Dennis Covington''' (born October 30, 1948) is an American author whose work includes two novels and three nonfiction books.<ref name=talk/> His subject matter includes spirituality, the environment, and the [[Southern United States|South]].<ref name=talk/> Covington's book ''[[Salvation on Sand Mountain]]'' was a 1995 National Book Award finalist and his articles have been published in ''[[The New York Times]]'' and ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]''.<ref name=talk/>
{{Infobox writer
| name = Dennis Covington
| embed =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1948|10|30}}
| birth_place = [[Birmingham, Alabama]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|04|14|1948|10|30}}
| death_place = [[Lubbock, Texas]], U.S.
| nationality = American
| module = {{infobox military person|embed=yes
|allegiance=[[United States of America]]
|branch=[[United States Army]]
|serviceyears=1970–72<ref>{{cite web|last1=White|first1=Cynthia|title=Dennis Covington|url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3187|website=Encyclopedia of Alabama|publisher=University of Montevallo|accessdate= May 17, 2018}}</ref>
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}}
}}


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'''Dennis Covington''' (October 30, 1948 – April 14, 2024) was an American author whose work included two novels and four nonfiction books.<ref name=talk/> His subject matter includes spirituality, the environment, and the [[Southern United States|South]].<ref name=talk/> Covington's book ''[[Salvation on Sand Mountain]]'' was a 1995 National Book Award finalist and his articles have been published in ''[[The New York Times]]'', ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]''<ref name=talk/> and ''Redbook''.
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Covington was born in [[Birmingham, Alabama]],<ref name="goodlyland">{{cite web |url= http://www.alabamaliterarymap.org/author.cfm?AuthorID=134|title= Dennis Covington|author= |date= May 30, 2008|work= This Goodly Land: Alabama's Literary Landscape|publisher= Alabama Center for the Book and Auburn University|accessdate=May 17, 2010}}</ref> studied fiction writing and earned a BA degree from the [[University of Virginia]], then served in the U.S. Army. He earned an [[MFA]]{{dn|date=May 2012}} in the early 1970s from the [[Iowa Writers' Workshop]], studying under [[Raymond Carver]]. He taught English at the [[College of Wooster]]. He married his second wife, writer Vicki Covington, in 1977. The couple returned to Birmingham the following year, and he began teaching at the [[University of Alabama at Birmingham]].


==Life and career==
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In 1983, Dennis Covington went to [[El Salvador]] as a freelance journalist. In 2003, he became Professor of Creative Writing at [[Texas Tech University]].<ref name="goodlyland"/><ref>[http://www.english.ttu.edu/general_info/directory/faculty_profile_pages/covington.asp Texas Tech, Department of English]</ref> In 2005, he was a judge for the [[National Book Awards]].<ref>[http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2005_judgebios.html ''2005 National Book Award Judges'']</ref> Covington spoke at a talk hosted by the [[University of Central Florida]]'s literary magazine ''[[The Cypress Dome]]'' in 2009.<ref name=talk>Viloc Pham [http://www.centralfloridafuture.com/author-entertains-inspires-students-1.1992205 Author entertains, inspires students;
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Covington was born in [[Birmingham, Alabama]],<ref name="goodlyland">{{cite web|url= http://www.alabamaliterarymap.org/author.cfm?AuthorID=134|title= Dennis Covington|date= May 30, 2008|work= This Goodly Land: Alabama's Literary Landscape|publisher= Alabama Center for the Book and Auburn University|accessdate= May 17, 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100917044042/http://alabamaliterarymap.org/author.cfm?AuthorID=134|archive-date= September 17, 2010|url-status= dead}}</ref> studied fiction writing and earned a BA degree from the [[University of Virginia]], then served in the U.S. Army. He earned an [[Master of Fine Arts|MFA]] in the early 1970s from the [[Iowa Writers' Workshop]], studying under [[Raymond Carver]]. He taught English at the [[College of Wooster]]. He married his second wife, writer Vicki Covington, in 1977. The couple returned to Birmingham the following year, and he began teaching at the [[University of Alabama at Birmingham]]. The couple divorced in 2005. They have two daughters and three grandchildren.
Cypress Dome hosts speaker October 10, 2009 Central Florida Future (University of Central Florida)</ref>

⚫
In 1983, Dennis Covington went to [[El Salvador]] as a freelance journalist. In 2003, he became Professor of Creative Writing at [[Texas Tech University]].<ref name="goodlyland"/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.english.ttu.edu/general_info/directory/faculty_profile_pages/covington.asp |title=Texas Tech, Department of English |access-date=March 9, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512092926/http://www.english.ttu.edu/general_info/directory/faculty_profile_pages/covington.asp |archive-date=May 12, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2005, he was a judge for the [[National Book Awards]].<ref>[http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2005_judgebios.html ''2005 National Book Award Judges'']</ref> Covington spoke at a talk hosted by the [[University of Central Florida]]'s literary magazine ''[[The Cypress Dome]]'' in 2009.<ref name=talk>Pham, Viloc, [http://www.centralfloridafuture.com/author-entertains-inspires-students-1.1992205 "Author entertains, inspires students; Cypress Dome hosts speaker October 10, 2009 Central Florida Future (University of Central Florida)]</ref>

In November 2017, Covington started his column called “Deep in the Heart,” published online by [[The American Scholar]]. He wrote a total of 20 mini-essays on life in Texas, family, lost love, health issues, and his childhood in Alabama. Covington’s essays were well-received.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://theamericanscholar.org/daily-scholar/deep-in-the-heart/ |title=Deep in the Heart |publisher=The American Scholar |access-date=December 28, 2018}}</ref>

Covington died in Lubbock, Texas, from complications from [[Lewy body dementia]] on April 14, 2024, at the age of 75.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Garrison |first1=Greg |title=Dennis Covington, Birmingham-born author of ‘Salvation on Sand Mountain,’ dead at 75 |url=https://www.al.com/news/2024/04/dennis-covington-birmingham-born-author-of-salvation-on-sand-mountain-dead-at-75.html |access-date=15 April 2024 |publisher=AL |date=15 April 2024}}</ref>


==Works==
==Works==
* ''Lizard'', New York: Delacorte Press, 1991. For younger readers.
* ''Lizard'', New York: Delacorte Press, 1991. For younger readers.
* ''Lasso the Moon'', New York: Delacorte Press, 1995. For younger readers.
* ''Lasso the Moon'', New York: Delacorte Press, 1995. For younger readers.
* ''[[Salvation on Sand Mountain|Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Salvation in Southern Appalachia]]'', Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1995, ISBN 978-0-14-025458-7
* ''[[Salvation on Sand Mountain|Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Salvation in Southern Appalachia]]'', Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1995, {{ISBN|978-0-14-025458-7}}
* ''Cleaving: The Story of a Marriage'', (with Vicki Covington), New York: North Point Press, 1999.
* ''Cleaving: The Story of a Marriage'' (with Vicki Covington), New York: North Point Press, 1999.
* ''Redneck Riviera: Armadillos, Outlaws, and the Demise of an American Dream'', New York: Counterpoint, 2004.
* ''Redneck Riviera: Armadillos, Outlaws, and the Demise of an American Dream'', New York: Counterpoint, 2004.
* ''Revelation: A Search for Faith in a Violent Religious World'', New York: Little Brown & Company, 2016.

===Criticism===
<blockquote>'Religion Kills,' Hitchens titles a chapter with typical bravado, as though science doesn't. The history of scientific inquiry is filled with examples of incompetence, chicanery and outright torture and homicide undertaken in the name of "reason" and "progress." Yet Hitchens continues to imply that evil is the prefecture of religion rather than a resident of both secular and spiritual worlds.</blockquote>
* [http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2007/05/christopher-hitchens-god-is-not-great.html ''Christopher Hitchens: God is Not Great'', Dennis Covington, Paste Magazine, May 9, 2007]


==Excerpts in anthologies==
==Excerpts in anthologies==
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=xxrXgg1WIPkC&pg=PA391&lpg=PA391&dq=Dennis+Covington&source=bl&ots=FtN1D-0H8v&sig=OhXWhrf7mW77OsfqFJGxa4o7ufg&hl=en&ei=-HC0SY3jAuHAtgeUtuy6Bw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=8&ct=result#PPA391,M1 ''From "Snake Handling and Redemption"'', The Art of Fact, Kevin Kerrane, Ben Yagoda, Simon and Schuster, 1998, ISBN 978-0-684-84630-9]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=xxrXgg1WIPkC&dq=Dennis+Covington&pg=PA391 ''From "Snake Handling and Redemption"''], The Art of Fact, Kevin Kerrane, Ben Yagoda, Simon and Schuster, 1998, {{ISBN|978-0-684-84630-9}}
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=R71mAAIC4yMC&pg=PA577&lpg=PA577&dq=Dennis+Covington&source=bl&ots=-yZU3cjNBY&sig=RifECWzxafbx3d82nJE3eWAuOMA&hl=en&ei=OHO0Sd78NY3BtgfKvKzEBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result ''From Salvation on Sand Mountain'', The Oxford Book of the American South, Edward L. Ayers, Bradley C. Mittendorf, Oxford University Press US, 1997, ISBN 978-0-19-512493-4]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=R71mAAIC4yMC&dq=Dennis+Covington&pg=PA577 "From Salvation on Sand Mountain"], ''The Oxford Book of the American South'', Edward L. Ayers, Bradley C. Mittendorf, Oxford University Press US, 1997, {{ISBN|978-0-19-512493-4}}

==Reviews==
<blockquote>''Salvation On Sand Mountain'' details “war stories” of people who lived to tell of their poisonous snake bites, and of those who did not survive. Covington describes what led him to abandon snake handling during a wedding in Kingston, Georgia, where the writer discovered there’s a fine line in the world of snake-handling between faith and suicide.<ref>[http://swampland.com/reviews/view/title:salvation_on_sand_mountain ''Salvation On Sand Mountain'', James Calemine, Swampland.com ]</ref></blockquote>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


==External references==
==External links==
* [http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj9607&article=960722 ''Down From the Mountain: An interview with author Dennis Covington'', Brett Grainger, and Rose Marie Berger, Sojourners]
* [http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj9607&article=960722 "Down From the Mountain: An interview with author Dennis Covington"], Brett Grainger, and Rose Marie Berger, Sojourners
* [http://alabamaliterarymap.lib.ua.edu/author?AuthorID=134 ''Dennis Covington'', This Goodly Land Alabama's Literary Heritage]
* [http://alabamaliterarymap.lib.ua.edu/author?AuthorID=134 ''Dennis Covington'', This Goodly Land Alabama's Literary Heritage]
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=xxrXgg1WIPkC&pg=PA391&lpg=PA391&dq=Dennis+Covington&source=bl&ots=FtN1D-0H8v&sig=OhXWhrf7mW77OsfqFJGxa4o7ufg&hl=en&ei=-HC0SY3jAuHAtgeUtuy6Bw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=8&ct=result#PPA391,M1 ''From "Snake Handling and Redemption"'', The Art of Fact, Kevin Kerrane, Ben Yagoda, Simon and Schuster, 1998, ISBN 978-0-684-84630-9]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=xxrXgg1WIPkC&dq=Dennis+Covington&pg=PA391 ''From "Snake Handling and Redemption"'', The Art of Fact], Kevin Kerrane, Ben Yagoda, Simon and Schuster, 1998, {{ISBN|978-0-684-84630-9}}
* [https://theamericanscholar.org/daily-scholar/deep-in-the-heart/ "Dennis Covington, Daily Scholar, Deep in the Heart"]

{{Authority control}}

<!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] -->
{{Persondata
|NAME= Covington, Dennis
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
|SHORT DESCRIPTION= Writer
|DATE OF BIRTH= October 30, 1948
|PLACE OF BIRTH= [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]], [[Alabama]], [[United States]]
|DATE OF DEATH=
|PLACE OF DEATH=
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}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Covington, Dennis}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Covington, Dennis}}
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[[Category:Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni]]
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[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:1948 births]]
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[[Category:2024 deaths]]
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[[Category:Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni]]
[[Category:Writers from Birmingham, Alabama]]
[[Category:Deaths from Lewy body dementia]]
[[Category:Deaths from dementia in Texas]]

Latest revision as of 09:13, 16 April 2024

Dennis Covington
Born(1948-10-30)October 30, 1948
Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
DiedApril 14, 2024(2024-04-14) (aged 75)
Lubbock, Texas, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Military career
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of service1970–72[1]

Dennis Covington (October 30, 1948 – April 14, 2024) was an American author whose work included two novels and four nonfiction books.[2] His subject matter includes spirituality, the environment, and the South.[2] Covington's book Salvation on Sand Mountain was a 1995 National Book Award finalist and his articles have been published in The New York Times, Vogue[2] and Redbook.

Life and career[edit]

Covington was born in Birmingham, Alabama,[3] studied fiction writing and earned a BA degree from the University of Virginia, then served in the U.S. Army. He earned an MFA in the early 1970s from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, studying under Raymond Carver. He taught English at the College of Wooster. He married his second wife, writer Vicki Covington, in 1977. The couple returned to Birmingham the following year, and he began teaching at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The couple divorced in 2005. They have two daughters and three grandchildren.

In 1983, Dennis Covington went to El Salvador as a freelance journalist. In 2003, he became Professor of Creative Writing at Texas Tech University.[3][4] In 2005, he was a judge for the National Book Awards.[5] Covington spoke at a talk hosted by the University of Central Florida's literary magazine The Cypress Dome in 2009.[2]

In November 2017, Covington started his column called “Deep in the Heart,” published online by The American Scholar. He wrote a total of 20 mini-essays on life in Texas, family, lost love, health issues, and his childhood in Alabama. Covington’s essays were well-received.[6]

Covington died in Lubbock, Texas, from complications from Lewy body dementia on April 14, 2024, at the age of 75.[7]

Works[edit]

  • Lizard, New York: Delacorte Press, 1991. For younger readers.
  • Lasso the Moon, New York: Delacorte Press, 1995. For younger readers.
  • Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Salvation in Southern Appalachia, Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1995, ISBN 978-0-14-025458-7
  • Cleaving: The Story of a Marriage (with Vicki Covington), New York: North Point Press, 1999.
  • Redneck Riviera: Armadillos, Outlaws, and the Demise of an American Dream, New York: Counterpoint, 2004.
  • Revelation: A Search for Faith in a Violent Religious World, New York: Little Brown & Company, 2016.

Excerpts in anthologies[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ White, Cynthia. "Dennis Covington". Encyclopedia of Alabama. University of Montevallo. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d Pham, Viloc, "Author entertains, inspires students; Cypress Dome hosts speaker October 10, 2009 Central Florida Future (University of Central Florida)
  3. ^ a b "Dennis Covington". This Goodly Land: Alabama's Literary Landscape. Alabama Center for the Book and Auburn University. May 30, 2008. Archived from the original on September 17, 2010. Retrieved May 17, 2010.
  4. ^ "Texas Tech, Department of English". Archived from the original on May 12, 2008. Retrieved March 9, 2009.
  5. ^ 2005 National Book Award Judges
  6. ^ "Deep in the Heart". The American Scholar. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  7. ^ Garrison, Greg (15 April 2024). "Dennis Covington, Birmingham-born author of 'Salvation on Sand Mountain,' dead at 75". AL. Retrieved 15 April 2024.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dennis_Covington&oldid=1219197470"