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Summer 2003

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On Nov. 22, students, faculty, staff and friends gathered at the Villanova Conference Center to show their appreciation for American writing. Jay Parini read and discussed some of his work, while paying tribute to his Italian-American heritage. This event was made possible through the efforts of Dr. Charles Cherry, Villanova chair of the English department; Mario D’Ignazio, associate dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences; and Dr. Kenneth Ciongoli, vice chair of the National Italian-American Foundation.

Ciongoli was the first to speak. He described the National Italian American Foundation’s goals and his involvement in it. The foundation provides exposure to Italian culture and appreciation for Italy’s treasures. The foundation believes there is a lack of knowledge about Italy and the Italian-American heritage. Sponsoring events such as this is one way to help correct it.

Cherry introduced Jay Parini, a poet, novelist, and biographer who currently is Axinn professor of English at Middlebury College. He first read from one of his earlier books of poetry titled, Anthracite Country. The book documents Parini’s youth in the anthracite mining country of northeast Pennsylvania. He read several poems from the collection and interpreted their significance to aspects of his early life. The poems he read included, “Playing in the Mines,” “Snake Hill,” “Miner’s Wake,” and “Anthracite Country.” The poems were narrative and described specific memories from his youth.

Parini also read from his latest novel, The Apprentice Lover, which was inspired by his experiences with his mentor at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and his time spent in Amalfi, Italy near the island of Capri. The story is about Alex Massolini, who drops out of Columbia University and acquires a position as secretary for the renowned Scottish writer Rupert Grant who is living in a villa on Capri. The passage that Parini read was a party scene and included wittily drawn cameos of W.H. Auden, Graham Greene and Gore Vidal.

Parini concluded his reading with a poem titled “A Conversation in Oxford” from his fourth book of poetry, House of Days. This collection of poems moves beyond his earlier work and addresses the spiritual and environmental concerns that afflict us in today’s society. The poem described an intimate discussion of views, generations, questions, and answers with a fellow philosopher and writer.

Then, Parini opened the floor for discussion with the audience. He answered questions about his reasons for going to school at St. Andrews, how he outlines his books, his view of his reading audience, his greatest influence to write, his teaching, and what his personal reading interests are. The question and answer session was followed by a reception in the living room of the Montrose Mansion, where the audience gathered to eat, drink and speak with Jay Parini.