2015: Jay Parini

Writing Jesus: Issues and Challenges in Telling the Christ Story

Jay Parini is a poet, novelist, biographer, and critic. His five books of poetry include The Art of Subtraction: New and Selected Poems. He has written eight novels, including Benjamin’s Crossing, The Apprentice Lover, The Passages of H.M., and The Last Station, the latter was made into an Academy Award-nominated film starring Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer. He has written biographies of John Steinbeck, Robert Frost, and William Faulkner. His non-fiction works include Jesus: The Human Face of God, Why Poetry Matters and Promised Land: Thirteen Books that Changed America. He writes for various publications, including The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.