Dennis Covington
Encyclopedia
Dennis Covington is an American writer. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama
, 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
.
In 1983, Dennis Covington went to El Salvador
as a freelance journalist. In 2003, he became Professor of Creative Writing at Texas Tech University
. In 2005, he was a judge for the National Book Awards.
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, studied fiction writing and earned a BA degree from the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
, then served in the U.S. Army. He earned an MFA in the early 1970s, from the Iowa Writers' Workshop
Iowa Writers' Workshop
The Program in Creative Writing, more commonly known as the Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, is a highly regarded graduate-level creative writing program in the United States...
studying under Raymond Carver
Raymond Carver
Raymond Clevie Carver, Jr. was an American short story writer and poet. Carver is considered a major American writer of the late 20th century and also a major force in the revitalization of the short story in the 1980s....
. 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
University of Alabama at Birmingham
The University of Alabama at Birmingham is a public university in Birmingham in the U.S. state of Alabama. Developing from an extension center established in 1936, the institution became an autonomous institution in 1969 and is today one of three institutions in the University of Alabama System...
.
In 1983, Dennis Covington went to El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
as a freelance journalist. In 2003, he became Professor of Creative Writing at Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University, often referred to as Texas Tech or TTU, is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the leading institution of the Texas Tech University System and has the...
. In 2005, he was a judge for the National Book Awards.
Works
- 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 AppalachiaSalvation on Sand MountainSalvation on Sand Mountain is a 1995 non-fiction text by Dennis Covington. The book follows the author as he goes from covering the trial of Glenn Summerford to experiencing a snake handling church in Appalachia...
, Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1995, ISBN 978-0140254587 - 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.
Criticism
'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.
Excerpts in anthologies
- From "Snake Handling and Redemption", The Art of Fact, Kevin Kerrane, Ben Yagoda, Simon and Schuster, 1998, ISBN 9780684846309
- From Salvation on Sand Mountain, The Oxford Book of the American South, Edward L. Ayers, Bradley C. Mittendorf, Oxford University Press US, 1997, ISBN 9780195124934
Reviews
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.
External references
- Down From the Mountain: An interview with author Dennis Covington, Brett Grainger, and Rose Marie Berger, Sojourners
- Dennis Covington, This Goodly Land Alabama's Literary Heritage
- From "Snake Handling and Redemption", The Art of Fact, Kevin Kerrane, Ben Yagoda, Simon and Schuster, 1998, ISBN 9780684846309