About The Parlor

The Parlor is a new nonprofit creative writing center in Salem, Massachusetts. Our mission is to foster the creative development of individual writers, to cultivate a local writing community, and to build an audience for literature on the North Shore of Massachusetts. We’ll do this by providing affordable creative writing workshops to writers of all experience levels, by hosting events of interest to the writing community, and by continuing to publish the national literary journal Quick Fiction. The Parlor is currently in the planning stages and hope that you will get involved by taking our survey. You can find out what we’re up to by reading our blog.

The best way to stay informed about new developments is to join our email list.

Advisory Board

The Parlor’s advisory board consists of experts in the fields of writing and publishing, local creative writers, and those knowledgeable in nonprofit management. Current members of the growing advisory board include:

Rusty Barnes, Educator and Writer
Amy L. Clark, Educator and Writer
Randie Farmelant, Bookseller
Gary LaParl, Executive Director of Salem Arts Association
Janet H. Lieberman, Assistant Director of Development Research, MIT
Jeremy McKeen, High School Educator, Writer, Musician
Pamela Painter, Educator and Writer
J.D. Scrimgeour, Coordinator of Creative Writing Program at Salem State College

Management Team

Adam Pieroni
Executive Director

Adam works to ensure that The Parlor becomes the North Shore’s preeminent writing studio. A graduate of Indiana University and cofounder of two literary journals, Adam brings more than eight years of nonprofit publishing experience to The Parlor. As publisher of Quick Fiction, he grew the annual revenue of the independent literary journal by approximately 50% over six years. Adam successfully built the operational systems (editorial, sales, information technology, marketing, and public relations) to grow a sustainable literary enterprise that has garnered positive media attention from The New York Times, Poets & Writers Magazine, The Boston Globe, Boston NOW, The Boston Phoenix, and Boston’s Weekly Dig.

Jennifer Pieroni
Development and Program Director

Jennifer works to ensure that The Parlor’s programs are high quality and sustainable. Jennifer has over eight years of nonprofit fundraising experience. Most recently, she served as a development director for Jumpstart, an early literacy organization. In this role she managed a portfolio of corporate, government, foundation, and individual prospects and secured approximately $2 million last year. Jennifer graduated from Emerson College’s program in Writing, Literature, and Publishing in 2001 and cofounded the literary journal Quick Fiction. As editor in chief, she guided the aesthetic of the journal while managing 11 part-time volunteers. Her writing has appeared in print and online at various literary magazines.