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Poet, novelist, and critic Jay Parini ’70 will present “Promised Land: Thirteen Books that Changed America” 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14, in the Gendebien Room of Skillman Library. The event will be the 2009 Paul and June Schlueter Lecture in the Art and History of the Book. It is free and open to the public.
The lecture, drawn from Parini’s recent book of the same name, will look at “works that helped to create the intellectual and emotional contours of this country.” A reception and book signing will follow in the Simon Room, which holds the library’s fall exhibit, Parini’s Picks.
The exhibit features commentary from Parini’s book and various editions of the 13 works including The Federalist Papers, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, How to Win Friends and Influence People, and The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care.
Parini is the author or editor of more than 40 books including poetry, fiction, criticism, and major biographies of John Steinbeck, Robert Frost, and William Faulkner. He was cofounder of the New England Review and serves as literary executor for Gore Vidal. In early September, the film adaptation of his novel The Last Station, an account of the last year of Leo Tolstoy’s life, premiered at the Telluride Film Festival. The film, starting Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer, will be released in 2010. Parini is the D.E. Axinn Professor of English and Creative Writing at Middlebury College.
The Schlueter Lecture Series was established in 2007 by Drs. Paul and June Schlueter in support of Skillman Library’s Special Collections. The donors intended that the lecture series cover a range of topics associated with the history, culture, production, conservation, and collection of books of all time periods and in all formats. Their generous gift also supports acquisitions for Special Collections.