Jay Parini
Encyclopedia
Jay Parini is an American
writer and academic. He is known for novels and poetry, biography and criticism.
He was born in Pittston, Pennsylvania
, and brought up in Scranton, Pennsylvania
. He graduated from Lafayette College
in 1970 and was awarded a doctorate by the University of St. Andrews in 1975. He taught at Dartmouth College
from 1975 to 1982, and has taught since 1982 at Middlebury College
, where he is the D.E. Axinn Professor of English and Creative Writing. He is a member of the Board of Visitors
of Ralston College
, a liberal arts college
in Savannah
that was founded in February, 2010. He is married to the writer and psychologist Devon Jersild; they have three sons.
He is a regular contributor to various journals and newspapers, including The Chronicle of Higher Education
and The Guardian
(U.K.). In 1976, he co-founded New England Review
with Sydney Lea. In 1995, he was appointed literary executor
for author Gore Vidal
.
Parini's 1990 novel The Last Station
was adapted into a film that was released in December 2009.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer and academic. He is known for novels and poetry, biography and criticism.
He was born in Pittston, Pennsylvania
Pittston, Pennsylvania
Pittston is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. It gained prominence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as an active anthracite coal mining city, drawing a large portion of its labor force from European immigrants. The population was...
, and brought up in Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
. He graduated from Lafayette College
Lafayette College
Lafayette College is a private coeducational liberal arts and engineering college located in Easton, Pennsylvania, USA. The school, founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter,son of General Andrew Porter of Norristown and citizens of Easton, first began holding classes in 1832...
in 1970 and was awarded a doctorate by the University of St. Andrews in 1975. He taught at Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
from 1975 to 1982, and has taught since 1982 at Middlebury College
Middlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...
, where he is the D.E. Axinn Professor of English and Creative Writing. He is a member of the Board of Visitors
Visitor
A Visitor, in United Kingdom law and history, is an overseer of an autonomous ecclesiastical or eleemosynary institution , who can intervene in the internal affairs of that institution...
of Ralston College
Ralston College
Ralston College is a liberal arts college in Savannah, Georgia, United States. It was founded on February 1, 2010 and as of December 2010 is not yet accepting applications for admission. The patrons of Ralston College are Harold Bloom, Hilary Putnam, and Salman Rushdie. The members of the Board...
, a liberal arts college
Liberal arts college
A liberal arts college is one with a primary emphasis on undergraduate study in the liberal arts and sciences.Students in the liberal arts generally major in a particular discipline while receiving exposure to a wide range of academic subjects, including sciences as well as the traditional...
in Savannah
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
that was founded in February, 2010. He is married to the writer and psychologist Devon Jersild; they have three sons.
He is a regular contributor to various journals and newspapers, including The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty, staff members and administrators....
and The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
(U.K.). In 1976, he co-founded New England Review
New England Review
The New England Review is a quarterly literary magazine published by Middlebury College. Founded in New Hampshire in 1978 by poet, novelist, editor and professor Sydney Lea and poet Jay Parini, it was published as New England Review & Bread Loaf Quarterly from 1982 , until 1991 as a formal...
with Sydney Lea. In 1995, he was appointed literary executor
Literary executor
A literary executor is a person with decision-making power in respect of a literary estate. According to Wills, Administration and Taxation: a practical guide "A will may appoint different executors to deal with different parts of the estate...
for author Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
.
Parini's 1990 novel The Last Station
The Last Station
The Last Station is a 2009 biographical drama film directed by Michael Hoffman. It is an adaptation of the 1990 biographical novel of the same name by Jay Parini about the final months of Leo Tolstoy's life. The film stars Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy and Helen Mirren as his wife Sophia Tolstaya...
was adapted into a film that was released in December 2009.
Bibliographic Works
- Singing in Time (1972) poems
- Theodore Roethke, an American Romantic (1979 - Criticism)
- The Love Run (1980) novel
- Anthracite Country (1982) poems
- Bread Loaf Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry (1985) editor with Robert PackRobert Pack (poet and critic)Robert Pack is an American poet and critic, and Distinguished Senior Professor in the Davidson Honors College at the University of Montana - Missoula. For thirty-four years he taught at Middlebury College and from 1973 to 1995 served as director of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. He is the...
and Sydney LeaSydney LeaSydney Lea is an American poet, novelist, essayist, editor, and professor. His most recent book is A Little Wildness: Some Notes on Rambling , and he has a ninth collection of poetry, Young of the Year, forthcoming from Four Way Books... - The Patch Boys (1986) novel
- An Invitation to Poetry (1987)
- The Bread Loaf Anthology of Contemporary American Short Stories (1987) editor with Robert PackRobert Pack (poet and critic)Robert Pack is an American poet and critic, and Distinguished Senior Professor in the Davidson Honors College at the University of Montana - Missoula. For thirty-four years he taught at Middlebury College and from 1973 to 1995 served as director of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. He is the...
- A Vermont Christmas (1988)
- Town Life (1988) poems
- The Bread Loaf Anthology of Contemporary American Essays (1989) editor with Robert PackRobert Pack (poet and critic)Robert Pack is an American poet and critic, and Distinguished Senior Professor in the Davidson Honors College at the University of Montana - Missoula. For thirty-four years he taught at Middlebury College and from 1973 to 1995 served as director of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. He is the...
- The Last Station: A Novel of Tolstoy's Last Year (1990)
- Richard Eberhart, New and Selected Poems 1930–1990 (1990) editor
- Writers On Writing (1991) with Robert PackRobert Pack (poet and critic)Robert Pack is an American poet and critic, and Distinguished Senior Professor in the Davidson Honors College at the University of Montana - Missoula. For thirty-four years he taught at Middlebury College and from 1973 to 1995 served as director of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. He is the...
- Bay of Arrows (1992) novel
- Gore Vidal: Writer Against the Grain (1992) editor
- Poems for a Small Planet: Contemporary American Nature Poetry (1993) editor with Robert PackRobert Pack (poet and critic)Robert Pack is an American poet and critic, and Distinguished Senior Professor in the Davidson Honors College at the University of Montana - Missoula. For thirty-four years he taught at Middlebury College and from 1973 to 1995 served as director of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. He is the...
- Columbia History of American Poetry (1994), editor
- Columbia Anthology of American Poetry (1995), editor
- John Steinbeck (1995) biography
- American Identities: Contemporary Multicultural Voices (1996) editor with Robert PackRobert Pack (poet and critic)Robert Pack is an American poet and critic, and Distinguished Senior Professor in the Davidson Honors College at the University of Montana - Missoula. For thirty-four years he taught at Middlebury College and from 1973 to 1995 served as director of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. He is the...
- Benjamin's Crossing (1996) novel
- Touchstones : American Poets on a Favorite Poem (1996) editor with Robert PackRobert Pack (poet and critic)Robert Pack is an American poet and critic, and Distinguished Senior Professor in the Davidson Honors College at the University of Montana - Missoula. For thirty-four years he taught at Middlebury College and from 1973 to 1995 served as director of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. He is the...
- Some Necessary Angels: Essays on Literature and Politics (1997) essays
- Beyond "The Godfather" : Italian American Writers on the Real Italian American Experience (1997) editor with A. Kenneth Ciongoli
- House of Days (1998) poems
- The Norton Book of American Autobiography (1998) editor
- Introspections : American Poets on One of Their Own Poems (1998) editor with Robert PackRobert Pack (poet and critic)Robert Pack is an American poet and critic, and Distinguished Senior Professor in the Davidson Honors College at the University of Montana - Missoula. For thirty-four years he taught at Middlebury College and from 1973 to 1995 served as director of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. He is the...
- Robert Frost: A Life (1999)
- American Writers (2000) editor, yearly volumes
- American Writers Classics I (2002), II (2004)
- The Apprentice Lover (2002) novel
- British Writers (2002) editor, yearly
- Contemporary Poetry Of New England (2002) editor with Robert PackRobert Pack (poet and critic)Robert Pack is an American poet and critic, and Distinguished Senior Professor in the Davidson Honors College at the University of Montana - Missoula. For thirty-four years he taught at Middlebury College and from 1973 to 1995 served as director of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. He is the...
- Passage to Liberty: The Story of Italian Immigration and the Rebirth of America (2002) with A. Kenneth Ciongoli
- British Writers Classics (2003) editor
- The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature (2004) editor
- World Writers in English (2003) editor
- Anthony Quinn's Eye (2004) with Donald KuspitDonald KuspitDonald Kuspit is an American art critic, poet, and Distinguished Professor of art history and philosophy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and professor of art history at the School of Visual Arts. Kuspit is one of America's most distinguished art critics. He was formerly the A....
and Tom RobertsTom RobertsThomas William Roberts , usually known simply as Tom, was a prominent Australian artist and a key member of the Heidelberg School.-Life:... - One Matchless Time: A Life of William Faulkner (2004)
- The Art of Teaching (2005)
- The Art of Subtraction: New and Selected Poems (2005) poems
- The Wadsworth Anthology of Poetry (2005), editor
- Why Poetry Matters (2008), criticism
- Promised Land: Thirteen Books that Changed America (2008), criticism
- The Passages of H.M., novel (2010)
External links
- Jay Parini: Vermont offers cozy sense of community for culture
- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0661514/Jay Parini's Listing in the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
] - Guardian Profile of Jay Parini
- Bookslut interview with Jay Parini
- Jay Parini's Middlebury College Profile
- Audio: Jay Parini reads "Precepts" from The Word Exchange: Anglo-Saxon Poems in Translation