Covington Named Recipient of Cason Award in Nonfiction Writing

Covington Named Recipient of Cason Award in Nonfiction Writing

Dennis Covington
Award-winning author and journalist Dennis Covington.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dennis Covington, award-winning author and journalist, is the recipient of the 2019 Clarence E. Cason Award in Nonfiction Writing.

The award, presented by The University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences, along with the department of journalism and creative media, will be given during a luncheon Friday, Oct. 4. Covington will speak at the luncheon.

Covington is the author of two novels and four nonfiction books, including “Salvation on Sand Mountain,” which was a finalist for the National Book Award. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Vogue, Esquire, The American Scholar, Georgia Review, Oxford American and many other periodicals. His most recent book, “Revelation: A Search for Faith in a Violent Religious World,” is a personal journey that explores the value of life in a world plagued by violence and religious strife.

“Dennis Covington’s work, particularly in ‘Salvation on Sand Mountain,’ captures such a compelling piece of Appalachian life,” said Dr. Cory Armstrong, department chair for journalism and creative media. “It is a riveting read. His impact on the writing community is far-reaching, and he is a deserving candidate of this honor.”

Accolades for Covington include the Anne Rea Jewell Non-Fiction Prize from the Boston Book Review for “Salvation on Sand Mountain,” the Delacorte Press Prize for “Lizard,” and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Alabama State Council on the Arts

A native of Birmingham, Covington received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia and his Mater of Fine Arts from the Iowa Writers Workshop. Between undergraduate and graduate school, he also served in the U.S. Army at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

As a journalist, Covington has covered true crime, natural disasters, the civil wars in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Syria, and the drug war in Juarez, Mexico. As a professor of creative writing, he has taught at Boise State University in Idaho, where he was Distinguished Visiting Writer-in-Residence, and The University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he won the institution’s highest award for scholarship. He’s professor emeritus of creative writing at Texas Tech University.

Clarence Cason, for whom the award is named, founded UA’s department of journalism in 1928. His most noted work, “Ninety Degrees in the Shade,” took a critical stance on race relations in the South at a time when tensions were nearing a climax. Each year, The University of Alabama bestows the honor on a recipient with a strong connection to Alabama whose writing has made a critical contribution to the journalism and literature of the South.

Contact

Rand Nelson, 205-348-6416, james.nelson@ua.edu

Source

Dr. Cory Armstrong, 205-348-7155, cory.l.armstrong@ua.edu