Date/Time
Date(s) - Fri 4th Feb, 2022
6:00pm - 7:00pm
Location
Online, Moniack Mhor Hosting, via Zoom,
Join us online for the first of our ‘in conversation’ events. American author Jay Parini will be talking to Roxani Krystalli about his book Borges and Me, longlisted for the 2021 Highland Book Prize. This event will also include a short Q&A session with the author.
Borges and Me: An Encounter
This is an intimate, lightly fictionalised memoir of a journey that Jay Parini took in 1971 through the Highlands of Scotland with the great Argentine author, Jorge Luis Borges. As they travelled, the charmingly garrulous Borges took Parini on a grand tour of western literature and ideas while promising to teach him about love and poetry. They also meet one of the greatest Scottish poets, George Mackay Brown, in Orkney.
(Canongate, 2021)
Jay Parini is Axinn Professor of English at Middlebury College, Vermont. In addition to New and Collected Poems: 1975–2015, he has published eight novels including Benjamin’s Crossing and The Last Station which was made into an Academy Award-nominated film with Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer. He has written biographies of John Steinbeck, Robert Frost, William Faulkner and Gore Vidal. He edited The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature and writes regularly for the Guardian and other publications.
Roxani Krystalli is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) at the University of St Andrews, where her research and teaching focus on feminist peace and conflict studies, as well as on the politics of nature and place. For over a decade, she has worked as a practitioner in humanitarian action, peacebuilding, and transitional justice, most recently in Colombia. Roxani is also a writer and storyteller, interested in the themes of memory and loss, nature and place, violence and care.
All events are free, with the option to give a donation of £4.00, £8.00, or £12.00 on a ‘pay as you can’ basis. Booking is required.
All donations go towards supporting the ongoing work of Moniack Mhor. Registered charity no. SC030292
This event is brought to you as part of a series celebrating the 2021 Highland Book Prize longlist. Moniack Mhor will be running sessions throughout February with longlisted writers, including workshops, poetry mornings, and in-conversation talks. All will be delivered via Zoom and supported by a member of the Moniack Mhor/Highland Book Prize team. Click here to view the full programme.
Our thanks go to the William Grant Foundation who provide funding to encourage public engagement with the Highland Book Prize.
Bookings
This course is now fully booked. Please contact us on info@moniackmhor.org.uk or 01463 741 675 to be added to the waiting list.