Peter Covino brings people together, creating communities wherever he goes. This associate professor of English and creative writing, poet, translator, and former social worker makes it look easy. It’s just what he does.

Take URI’s Ocean State Summer Writing Conference, three days in June dedicated to building—and supporting—a community of writers. The conference, which began in 2007, was Peter Covino’s big idea. Since that time, the conference has welcomed award-winning writers, poets, and playwrights to the Kingston campus to teach and inspire writers of all levels to develop their craft and learn from one another. The conference, which has become one of the University’s signature events, kicks off its eighth annual gathering on June 19.

“We needed to make creative writing more visible,” says Professor Covino, who was also the driving force behind The Ocean State Review, a journal of literary arts that grew out of the writing conference.

Born in Italy, he came to the United States as a child, earned an M.S.W. from Columbia, and worked as a social worker for 10 years in New York City before turning to the world of letters and earning a Ph.D. in English and Creative Writing from the University of Utah. The author the poetry collections, The Right Place to Jump (2012) and Cut Off the Ears of Winter (2005), Professor Covino was the 2007 winner of the prestigious PEN American/Osterweil Award for emerging poets.

He’s not afraid to ask the big questions. “Poetry is not static,” he says. “Every poem is a socio-political question.”

Professor Covino’s belief in community and his passion for bringing his words—and those of others—into the light are at the heart of his work as a poet, teacher, and advocate for creative writing. He has “a reverence for language” and for the truth. It’s a powerful combination.