Parini, Jay
Born: April 2, 1948 in Pittston, Pennsylvania
Died:
Literary Contribution: Poet, Novelist, Biographer, Editor
Geographic Connection to Pennsylvania: Pittston, Luzerne County; Easton, Northampton County

Keywords: Bread Loaf Writer's Conference, Dartmouth College, Juniper Prize, Lafayette College, Middlebury College, University of Massachusetts Press, New England Review, Robert Frost: A Life, University of Saint Andrews

Abstract: Scholar and poet Jay Parini was born in Pittston in 1948. His writing runs the gamut from scholarly articles to poetry collections and everything in between. He is currently a professor at Middlebury College in Vermont.

Biography:

Jay Parini was born in Pittston, Pennsylvania, on April 2, 1948. His Parents were Leo Joseph Parini, a Baptist minister, and Verna Ruth Parini. In 1981, he married Devon Stacey Jersild, with whom he had three children.

Parini attended Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, but he used his junior year to study abroad at the University of Saint Andrews, Scotland. He enjoyed Scotland so much that after finishing his A.B. at Lafayette in 1970, Parini immediately returned to the University of Saint Andrews where he received a Ph.D. in 1975. It was here, in 1972, that Parini began writing poetry and published his first work, a poetry collection entitled Singing in Time, while he was still an undergraduate student. Parini returned to the United States in 1975 to take a position as assistant professor of English and director of creative writing at Dartmouth College. During this period Parini founded and coedited the New England Review in 1977 and married Devon Stacey Jersild in 1981, whom he had met at Dartmouth. He then moved to Vermont where he obtained his position as Axinn Professor of English at Middlebury College in 1982.

Jay Parini has published a total of 13 books, not counting the many projects he has participated in as an editor. He has also received critical acclaim from many sources including the New York Times Book Review and Chicago Tribune Book World for his work in a collection of poetry entitled Anthracite Country, just one of his works devoted to the Scranton, Pennsylvania, area where he grew up. Parini's self-admitted obsession with Robert Frost, who had both attended Dartmouth and resided in Vermont, led him to finally publish the biography Robert Frost: A Life. This work became the subject of critical dispute because it did not present Frost as being a monster like other biographies did. While some critics felt that this biography was meticulously researched and well written, others felt that Frost had been misrepresented. He also edited the Columbia History of American Poetry.

Parini now resides with his wife in Weybridge, Vermont.

Works:

Biographies

• John Steinbeck: A Biography. New York: Holt, 1995.
• Robert Frost: A Life. New York: Holt, 1999.

Essay collections

• Some Necessary Angels: Essays on Writing and Politics. New York: Columbia UP, 1997.

Poetry

• Singing in Time. St. Andrews, Scotland: Starglow Press, 1972
• Anthracite Country. New York: Random House, 1982.
• Town Life. New York: Holt, 1988.
• House of Days: Poems. New York: Holt, 1998.

Textbooks

• An Invitation to Poetry. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1987.

Novels

• The Love Run. New York: Blue Moon Books, 1989.
• The Patch Boys. New York: Holt, 1986.
• The Last Station. New York: Holt, 1990.
• Benjamin's Crossing. New York: Holt, 1996.

Sources:

• "Jay (Lee) Parini." The Gale Literary Database: Contemporary Authors. The Gale Group. 3 March 2000. Thomson Corporation. 20 September 2001. <http://www.galenet.com>.
• "Booknotes Transcripts." Booknotes on C-SPAN. Burrelle's Information Services. 17 October 2001. <http://www.booknotes.org/transcripts/50532.htm>.

This biographical sketch was prepared by Aaron Bennett.