HeyJaredJay Parini's Substack
Jay Parini is a poet, novelist, and biographer. He writes about literature, politics, and society. His recent memoir, Borges and Me, has been turned into a film.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 6
- Latest publication
- Sep 22, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 10, 2026
Latest issues
Visiting the Frost House at Bread Loaf (opens the original)
Read excerpt
I never don’t find the Frost House in Ripton, Vermont, with its log cabin nearby, less than haunting. Robert Frost lived there for decades at the end of his life, often alone in the cabin, where he read and wrote, and where he often entertained visiting poets and journalists. A few years ago, at the invitation of my friend Lisa New, I took at few people to the cabin and talked to them about it. She recently sent me a clip of this little visit, and I attach it here:
Reading Neruda: Again and Always (opens the original)
Read excerpt
I’ve been re-reading and thinking a lot about the great Pablo Neruda again, a poet of immense verbal energy and passion for life. This essay is adapted from a review I once wrote of the Ilan Stavans edition of the poems—a book that should have a special place in every library:Pablo Neruda is often compared to Walt Whitman. In fact, he outdid Whitman in some respects. His poems have been memorized and recited by ordinary people across his vast continent. He has been perhaps the most widely transl
Borges and Me -- the Film (opens the original)
Read excerpt
BORGES AND ME – THE FILMI’m mid-Atlantic, flying home from Scotland, where I attended the world premiere of the film adaptation of my novelized memoir, Borges and Me, which came out six years ago. It was, in fact, quite magical to see my early days as a student in St. Andrews, in 1971, come to life on the screen, with “me” played by Fionn Whitehead as a shy, worried, rather neurotic young man. Fionn makes a great job of this, I think, saying very little, listening and reacting to the great Jorge
World Aflame, for Real (opens the original)
Read excerpt
World Aflame—for RealThese days I often think back to the title of an old Billy Graham book: World Aflame. That book appeared in 1965. I suspect Dr. Graham is turning over in his grave. The world is burning now, and no longer merely as a metaphor. Real fires lick the sky, scatter populations, and threaten life as we knew it.Temperatures in Phoenix routinely climb above 100 degrees Fahrenheit these days, often remaining there day after day and even through the night—a horrible threat to the homel
Dreaming of Scotland, Ireland, and Yeats (opens the original)
Read excerpt
Dreaming of Scotland, Ireland, and YeatsBy Jay PariniMy mind is once again on Scotland. I’m about to attend the August 15th premiere of BORGES AND ME in Edinburgh. This is a film adaptation of my memoir/novel about my travels through the Highlands of Scotland in 1971 with Jorge Luis Borges, the great Argentine writer, who was being translated at the time by my Scottish mentor, Alastair Reid.I’ve already seen a cut of the film (which is drawn closely from my b
Publishing over time
Last 90 days. Choose a month to open its work.
Recurring subjects
Named in the text we hold. One piece can cover several.
Audience
No verified audience measurement yet.
About this data
Counts cover the work we have indexed. Tone needs enough text and a confident classification. Excerpts and episode notes are not full articles or transcripts.
Identity or attribution wrong? Suggest a correction.