Denise Giardina
Encyclopedia
Denise Giardina is a novelist. Her book Storming Heaven
was a Discovery Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club and received the 1987 W. D. Weatherford Award for the best published work about the Appalachian South. The Unquiet Earth
received an American Book Award
and the Lillian Smith Book Award
for fiction. Her 1998 novel Saints and Villains was awarded the Boston Book Review fiction prize and was semifinalist for the International Dublin Literary Award.
, and grew up in the small coal mining camp of Black Wolf, located in rural McDowell County
, West Virginia
. Like the rest of the community, her family's survival was dependent upon the prosperity of the mine. Giardina's grandfather and uncles worked underground and her father kept the books for Page Coal and Coke. Her family lived in Black Wolf until she was thirteen, when the mine closed. In order to find work, her family moved to the state capital of Charleston
.
Giardina received a Bachelors degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College
in 1973. She pursued graduate work at Marshall University
in Huntington, West Virginia
, later receiving a Masters in Divinity from the Virginia Theological Seminary
in Alexandria, Virginia
in 1979. In 1980 she decided against ordination in favor of pursuing a career in writing. In order to fund this career choice, Denise Giardina did secretarial work during the day so she could write in the evenings. Giardina currently lives near Charleston and teaches at West Virginia State University
. In 2007 she was reinstated as an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church.
of West Virginia was born as a result of Giardina's candidacy for Governor of West Virginia in the 2000 general election. She received 10,416 votes, 1.61% of the vote, coming in third behind Democrat
Bob Wise
and Republican
incumbent Cecil H. Underwood
.
, about Henry V of England, was published in 1984. Despite positive reviews, the novel sold poorly. Denise Giardina also wrote guest columns for The Charleston Gazette
and submitted pieces to The Washington Post
while continuing her secretarial work.
Her next novel, Storming Heaven
, was published in 1987. This time her novel had a West Virginia setting. The story takes place in the coalfields along the West Virginia - Kentucky
border during the West Virginia Mine Wars. It covers the period 1890-1921, when coal miners were fighting to be unionized. The climax of the novel is based upon the historical 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain
between U.S. Army troops and a resisting fledgling union organization. The mining camp Denise Giardina spent her childhood in was less than 100 miles from Blair Mountain and served as the model for the town of Winco in the novel.
Denise Giardina's 1992 work, The Unquiet Earth, also explores life in the coalfields of West Virginia from the 1930s into the 1990s. As with Storming Heaven, the novel is written from the first hand perspective of several narrators, enabling readers to clearly understand the characters' views of the United Mine Workers of America and the hope that it is believed to bring. Denise Giardina incorporates a diversity of portraits, not only of coal miners, but also of coal operators, politicians (local and national), and VISTA
workers into her works. The novel also chronicles the continual lack of concern for human life by the coal mine operators. This includes such important issues as Black Lung
and culminates in a catastrophic flood at the novel's end, the author's fictionalization of the 1972 Buffalo Creek
disaster. Denise Giardina also captures such aspects of life in Appalachia
as religion and racism.
Denise Giardina's 1999 novel Saints and Villains is a fictionalized biography of the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
, a German Lutheran pastor who opposed fascism, became involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler and was hanged by the Nazis for his theological principles. Denise Giardina's novel dwells upon moral decisions, most notably the acceptability of sin if the sin will prevent a greater evil.
Storming Heaven (1987 novel)
Storming Heaven is Denise Giardina's second novel. It was published in 1987 and won the W.D. Weatherford Award that year. It is a fictionalized account of the labor strife in the coalfields of southern West Virginia, USA during 1920 and 1921.Chapter...
was a Discovery Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club and received the 1987 W. D. Weatherford Award for the best published work about the Appalachian South. The Unquiet Earth
The Unquiet Earth
The Unquiet Earth is Denise Giardina's third novel. It was published in 1992 and won the W.D. Weatherford Award that year.-Plot summary:...
received an American Book Award
American Book Award
The American Book Award was established in 1978 by the Before Columbus Foundation. It seeks to recognize outstanding literary achievement by contemporary American authors, without restriction to race, sex, ethnic background, or genre...
and the Lillian Smith Book Award
Lillian Smith Book Award
Jointly presented by the Southern Regional Council and the University of Georgia Libraries, the Lillian Smith Book Awards honor those authors who, through their outstanding writing about the American South, carry on Smith's legacy of elucidating the condition of racial and social inequity and...
for fiction. Her 1998 novel Saints and Villains was awarded the Boston Book Review fiction prize and was semifinalist for the International Dublin Literary Award.
Life
Denise Giardina was born October 25, 1951 in Bluefield, West VirginiaBluefield, West Virginia
Bluefield is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 10,447 at the 2010 census. It is also the core city of the Bluefield WV-VA micropolitan area which has a population of 107,342.-Geography & Climate:...
, and grew up in the small coal mining camp of Black Wolf, located in rural McDowell County
McDowell County, West Virginia
McDowell County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The land that became McDowell was originally part of Tazewell County, Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,113. Its county seat is Welch. McDowell county is the southern-most county in the state, geographically...
, West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
. Like the rest of the community, her family's survival was dependent upon the prosperity of the mine. Giardina's grandfather and uncles worked underground and her father kept the books for Page Coal and Coke. Her family lived in Black Wolf until she was thirteen, when the mine closed. In order to find work, her family moved to the state capital of Charleston
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
.
Giardina received a Bachelors degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College
West Virginia Wesleyan College
West Virginia Wesleyan College is a regionally accredited private, coeducational, liberal arts college in Buckhannon, West Virginia, United States. It has an enrollment of about 1,400 students from 35 U.S. states and 26 countries. The school was founded in 1890 by the West Virginia Conference of...
in 1973. She pursued graduate work at Marshall University
Marshall University
Marshall University is a coeducational public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States founded in 1837, and named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States....
in Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Most of the city is in Cabell County, for which it is the county seat. A small portion of the city, mainly the neighborhood of Westmoreland, is in Wayne County. Its population was 49,138 at...
, later receiving a Masters in Divinity from the Virginia Theological Seminary
Virginia Theological Seminary
Virginia Theological Seminary , formally called the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, is the largest accredited Episcopal seminary in the United States. Founded in 1818, VTS is situated on an campus in Alexandria, Virginia, just a few miles from downtown Washington, DC. VTS...
in Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
in 1979. In 1980 she decided against ordination in favor of pursuing a career in writing. In order to fund this career choice, Denise Giardina did secretarial work during the day so she could write in the evenings. Giardina currently lives near Charleston and teaches at West Virginia State University
West Virginia State University
West Virginia State University is a historically black public college in Institute, West Virginia, United States. In the Charleston-metro area, the school is usually referred to simply as "State" or "West Virginia State"...
. In 2007 she was reinstated as an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church.
Run for governor
The Mountain PartyMountain Party
The Mountain Party is a political party in the state of West Virginia that on July 8, 2007, at its state convention, voted to become the West Virginia affiliate of the Green Party. At the 2007 Green Party National Meeting the party was admitted to the Green Party as a state affiliate. It is a...
of West Virginia was born as a result of Giardina's candidacy for Governor of West Virginia in the 2000 general election. She received 10,416 votes, 1.61% of the vote, coming in third behind Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Bob Wise
Bob Wise
Robert Ellsworth "Bob" Wise, Jr. is an American politician. A Democrat, Wise served as the 33rd Governor of West Virginia from January 2001 to January 2005.-Early life:...
and Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
incumbent Cecil H. Underwood
Cecil H. Underwood
Cecil Harland Underwood was an American Republican Party politician from West Virginia, known for the length of his career. He was the 25th and 32nd Governor of West Virginia from 1957 until 1961 and from 1997 until 2001. He ran for reelection in 2000 but was defeated by Bob Wise...
.
Works
Denise Giardina's first novel, Good King HarryGood King Harry (novel)
Good King Harry is an historical novel that purports to be the autobiography of Henry V. It was written by American author Denise Giardina and was published in 1984.-Plot summary:...
, about Henry V of England, was published in 1984. Despite positive reviews, the novel sold poorly. Denise Giardina also wrote guest columns for The Charleston Gazette
The Charleston Gazette
The Charleston Gazette is a five-day morning newspaper in Charleston, West Virginia. It is published Monday through Friday mornings. On Saturday and Sunday mornings the combined Charleston Gazette-Mail is published, which is, more or less, similar to the Gazette.The Gazette was established in...
and submitted pieces to The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
while continuing her secretarial work.
Her next novel, Storming Heaven
Storming Heaven (1987 novel)
Storming Heaven is Denise Giardina's second novel. It was published in 1987 and won the W.D. Weatherford Award that year. It is a fictionalized account of the labor strife in the coalfields of southern West Virginia, USA during 1920 and 1921.Chapter...
, was published in 1987. This time her novel had a West Virginia setting. The story takes place in the coalfields along the West Virginia - Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
border during the West Virginia Mine Wars. It covers the period 1890-1921, when coal miners were fighting to be unionized. The climax of the novel is based upon the historical 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain
Battle of Blair Mountain
The Battle of Blair Mountain was one of the largest civil uprisings in United States history and the largest armed insurrection since the American Civil War...
between U.S. Army troops and a resisting fledgling union organization. The mining camp Denise Giardina spent her childhood in was less than 100 miles from Blair Mountain and served as the model for the town of Winco in the novel.
Denise Giardina's 1992 work, The Unquiet Earth, also explores life in the coalfields of West Virginia from the 1930s into the 1990s. As with Storming Heaven, the novel is written from the first hand perspective of several narrators, enabling readers to clearly understand the characters' views of the United Mine Workers of America and the hope that it is believed to bring. Denise Giardina incorporates a diversity of portraits, not only of coal miners, but also of coal operators, politicians (local and national), and VISTA
Volunteers in Service to America
VISTA or Volunteers in Service to America is an anti-poverty program created by Lyndon Johnson's Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 as the domestic version of the Peace Corps. Initially, the program increased employment opportunities for conscientious people who felt they could contribute tangibly to...
workers into her works. The novel also chronicles the continual lack of concern for human life by the coal mine operators. This includes such important issues as Black Lung
Black Lung
Black Lung is an electronic and industrial music project by Australian musician David Thrussell, also known for his industrial bands Snog and the more ambient Soma....
and culminates in a catastrophic flood at the novel's end, the author's fictionalization of the 1972 Buffalo Creek
Buffalo Creek
-Waterways:In Pennsylvania*Buffalo Creek *Buffalo Creek , tributary of the Casselman River*Buffalo Creek *Buffalo Creek In West Virginia...
disaster. Denise Giardina also captures such aspects of life in Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
as religion and racism.
Denise Giardina's 1999 novel Saints and Villains is a fictionalized biography of the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and martyr. He was a participant in the German resistance movement against Nazism and a founding member of the Confessing Church. He was involved in plans by members of the Abwehr to assassinate Adolf Hitler...
, a German Lutheran pastor who opposed fascism, became involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler and was hanged by the Nazis for his theological principles. Denise Giardina's novel dwells upon moral decisions, most notably the acceptability of sin if the sin will prevent a greater evil.
External links
- Official Website: DeniseGiardina.com
- Excerpt from her novel, Fallam's Secrets: "New Shades o’Death Creek," Southern Spaces, May 21, 2009.