Jay Parini (born 1948) is an American writer and academic. He is known for novels and poetry, biography and criticism.
He was born in Pittston, Pennsylvania, and brought up in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Lafayette College in 1970 and was awarded a doctorate by the University of St. Andrews in 1975. He taught at Dartmouth College from 1975 to 1982, and has taught at Middlebury College since 1982. He is married to the writer and psychologist Devon Jersild. They have three sons.
He is a regular contributor to various journals and newspapers, including The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Guardian (U.K.). In 1976, he co-founded New England Review with Sydney Lea. In 1995, he was appointed literary executor for author Gore Vidal.
Parini's 1990 novel, The Last Station, was adapted into a major motion picture, released in December 2009.