Writing, Imagination & Memory w/ Author & Filmmaker JAY PARINI

About this episode

JAY PARINI discusses his memoir 'Borges and Me', exploring themes of poetry, memory, and personal loss during the Vietnam War.

“Poetry is the prince of the literary arts to me. It's at the very top because it's language refined to its apex of memorability. I am interested in poetry as memorability and poetry as something you live by. These are the words you live by. These words stay in your brain and guide your life. That's what I am interested in. My memoir slash autofiction is called Borges and Me , and as you know, it's a story of my time in 1970 when my best friend Billy was drafted for the Vietnam War, and so was I. He went to Vietnam, and I went to Scotland to hide out and do my graduate work. I spent nearly seven years in Scotland, but I certainly spent the next five years definitely in Scotland. I was there before as an undergraduate for a bit, too. During that time, Billy was killed in Vietnam, and I was a nervous wreck. My memoir talks about my depression, my anxieties, and then, through my friend Alastair Reid, I met Borges, the great Argentine writer. We went on a little road trip through the Highlands, and this conversation with Borges really restored me back to myself and what was important in life. I felt that I owed a huge amount to that contact with Borges… I was lucky that suddenly, out…

People in this episode

Guest: JAY PARINI

Topics covered

• poetry
• memoir
• Vietnam War
• mental health
• literary arts
• friendship
• film adaptation

Keywords

• poetry
• memoir
• Vietnam War
• Borges
• mental health
• literary arts
• film adaptation

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Borges and Me

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