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
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 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
Lizard, New York: Delacorte Press, 1991. For younger readers.
Lasso the Moon, New York: Delacorte Press, 1995. For younger readers.
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ab"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.