David Coventry

A former musician, sound engineer and film archivist, Coventry attended Hutt Valley High School from 1983 to 1986, has a BA in English literature and Religious studies (Victoria University of Wellington, 2000), an Honours Degree in English Literature (VUW, 2001) and a Masters in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters (VUW, 2010). In 2022 he received a Doctorate of Philosophy from Victoria University for his thesis exploring ME/CFS.{{Cite web |title=Doctoral Dean's list recipients {{!}} Faculty of Graduate Research |url=https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/fgr/about/doctoral-deans-list-recipients |access-date=2023-11-20 |website=Victoria University of Wellington |date=11 October 2023 |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=David Coventry {{!}} International Institute of Modern Letters |url=https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/modernletters/our-students/phd-graduates/david-coventry |access-date=2023-11-20 |website=Victoria University of Wellington |language=en}}

Coventry's novel, The Invisible Mile, set during the 1928 Tour de France was described in The Sydney Morning Herald as its pick of the Week: "David Coventry's poetic odyssey relates ... with symbolic force and poetic finesse."{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/the-invisible-mile-review-david-coventrys-poetic-odyssey-in-the-tour-de-france-20160718-gq7vib.html|title=The Invisible Mile review: David Coventry's poetic odyssey in the Tour de France|last1=Woodhead|first1=Cameron|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=18 July 2016 |access-date=8 July 2017}} The New York Times included it in its book of the week section, stating the book is "Gorgeous.... Coventry's brooding narrative, in varying parts philosophical action-adventure, travelogue, family drama, war chronicle and psychological puzzler, is suffused with the ever-querying perspective of its haunted central character."{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/16/books/review/debut-novels-for-armchair-olympians-rom-com-fans.html|title=Debut Novels for Armchair Olympians, Rom-Com Fans, and More|last1=Stuart|first1=Jan|work=The New York Times|date=16 June 2017 |access-date=8 July 2017}} A review in Auckland's Metro Magazine said it was "A dream to read, in all senses of the word.... A trance-like account of the 1928 Tour de France . . . The writing is fierce, a bravura mix of narcissism, masochism and lyricism grounded in the honesty of the unnamed rider's journey into his self and the dawning realisation that the race has become a grand metaphor for the trauma of World War I."{{Cite web|url=http://www.noted.co.nz/culture/books/the-invisible-mile-review/|title=The Invisible Mile – review – Metro|last=Sinclair|first=John|work=Metro Magazine|access-date=20 January 2018|archive-date=20 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180120124336/http://www.noted.co.nz/culture/books/the-invisible-mile-review/|url-status=dead}} Brian Clearkin at Landfall wrote: "a brilliant tour de force of writing talent and style that richly rewards the reader. [P]laces David Coventry among the elite of New Zealand authors."{{Cite news|url=https://www.landfallreview.com/faith-filth-food-water-wine-blister-drug/|title=Faith, Filth, Food, Water, Wine, Blister, Drug|date=31 October 2015|work=Landfall Review Online|access-date=20 January 2018}}

Coventry's work has been compared in The Brooklyn Rail to that of Don DeLillo, Toni Morrison and Thomas Mann.{{cite web|url=https://brooklynrail.org/2017/12/fiction/New-Routes-in-Fiction-David-Coventry-with-Alec-Niedenthal|title=New Routes in Fiction: David Coventry with Alec Niedenthal|last1=Niedenthal|first1=Alec|work=The Brooklyn Rail|date=13 December 2017 |access-date=19 January 2018}} Coventry's second novel, Dance Prone, explores trauma, art and 1980s' post-hardcore punk rock. It was published in 2020.{{Cite web|title=David Herkt talks with Wellington author David Coventry about his new novel, Dance Prone|url=https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/weekend-herald-canvas/20200718/281509343493280|access-date=2020-08-07|via=PressReader}} Performance, Coventry's third novel, which explores life and writing under the conditions of ME/CFS, was published in June 2024.{{Cite book |last=Coventry |first=David |title=Performance |date=13 June 2024 |publisher=Te Heranga Waka University Press |isbn=9781776920808 |location=Wellington |pages=i |language=English}} He lives in Wellington, New Zealand.

Coventry was the 2015 recipient of the Todd New Writer's Bursary.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}} He appeared at the 2016 Edinburgh International Book Festival, The International Festival of Authors in Toronto (2017), the New Zealand Festival's Writer's Week in session with Lloyd Geering (2016), the Auckland Writers Festival (2016), and the Nelson Arts Festival (2016).{{citation needed|date=July 2024}} In 2022 Coventry's Doctoral thesis was placed on the Victoria University of Wellington's Dean's List. Coventry was the 2022 Ursula Bethell Writer in Residence at University of Canterbury.{{Cite web |title=Ursula Bethell Residency {{!}} University of Canterbury |url=https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/arts/schools-and-departments/english/ursula-bethell-residency/ |access-date=2023-11-20 |website=The University of Canterbury |date=21 September 2023 |language=en-nz}}

• The Invisible Mile (2015)
• Dance Prone (2020)
• Performance (2024)

As a sound engineer he has produced works for the experimental groups Thela,{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Thela-Thela/release/490405|title=Thela – Thela|date=1995 |publisher=discogs|access-date=20 January 2018}} La Gloria and Empirical{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/LA-Gloria-Empirical-LA-Gloria-Empirical/release/8928019|title=LA Gloria, Empirical – LA Gloria / Empirical|date=1996 |publisher=discogs|access-date=20 January 2018}} The later pair as a contributing musician.

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Category:1969 births

Category:Living people

Category:New Zealand male short story writers

Category:21st-century New Zealand novelists

Category:International Institute of Modern Letters alumni

Category:Musicians from Wellington City

Category:Writers from Wellington City

Category:21st-century New Zealand short story writers

Category:New Zealand male novelists