The Parlor Blog

We’re pleased to announce that The Parlor’s winter programs will be held at Cornerstone Books in Salem. We’re offering four-week workshops in poetry and flash fiction on Sunday afternoons.

Also, we’re offering an expanded version  of our popular Speed Date with an Editor, featuring three editors: Jennifer Flescher (poetry), William Delman (fiction), and Jennifer Pieroni (flash fiction).

Literally Salem, the city’s first-ever literary festival, is ON and it would be super to see you around at the festival. The Parlor’s Speed Date Manuscript Critique with William Delman of Agni is almost completely booked, but there are so many other opportunities to participate, including the Salem Arts Association Lit Bop, featuring yours truly as MC and a reader from our journal, Quick Fiction. Please bring some work to read during the open mic!

Salem Arts Association LitBop
Location: Salem Arts Association Gallery on Artist’s Row
Time: 7-9 PM
The Salem Arts Association is hosting a lit-themed mixer with featured readings and an open mic starting at 7 pm on Saturday, September 13th. Featured readers include:

* Chip Cheek representing Quick Fiction, a literary magazine published by Salem Arts Association members;
* Wendy Snow-Lang, Salem Arts Association Member and member of North Shore Writer’s Group; and
* J.D. Scrimgeour from the creative writing program at Salem State College.

The Salem Arts Association is the premier membership organization for artists and art-lovers living and working in the Salem area. The mission of this artist-led organization is to bring art, in all its forms, to the community and bring the community, in all its diversity, to the arts in Salem. We do this by producing art exhibits, readings, performances, and special events, operating a retail gallery, exhibition and performance space in Salem’s Artists Row, and by forging important community partnerships. In March of 2008, the Salem Arts Association was nominated for the Salem Chamber of Commerce 2007 Community Service Award. See more and learn more about membership at www.salemartsassociation.org.

Sunday’s Boston Globe included a round-up of New England’s Best Literary Journals. Salem’s Quick Fiction, published by The Parlor, made the list at #4!

Here’s the article:  New England has a leg up on the rest of the nation when it comes to the literati. For one thing, the first literary magazine in the nation was founded here: the North American Review, born in Boston in 1815 in an effort, according to the review, to “rival the leading British magazines.” The journal was started by William Tudor along with fellow members of his “Anthology Club” - which itself sounds a bit like an attempt to launch the social concept of an intellectual boys’ night in. While there’s no contemporary evidence that this male domestic-cum-scholarly tradition really took hold, Tudor and his crew clearly succeeded in establishing the trend of New England-bred literary journals. Today, our region produces more than 100 such titles, an outsize portion of the more than 500 American magazines devoted to the love of language, narrative, and poetry.  Read More…

The Parlor’s First Annual Creative Connection was a success by every measure. Thank you to our fabulous host The Salem Athenæum and to the incredible crowd who packed the room and participated in the conversation with our special guest Hannah Tinti.

For those of you who missed it, here’s an excerpt of the conversation:

Adam Pieroni: What advice do have for those of us here today who might want to devote ourselves to writing, start a magazine, or pursue a career in publishing?

Hannah Tinti: Like with anything in life, it’s not one big break that you get, it’s not like life changes in one day. It’s a series of very small steps… Once you have the goal for yourself … for me it was writing, this is what I decided to do … I said, “I’m going to throw my eggs in this basket and I’m going to do what I do best.” But at the same time I had a job, I was working in an office, trying to write at night and on the weekends, trying to pay my rent, trying to live my life, do my laundry, pay my taxes. And I basically decided what I would do is, once every day, I would try to do something that would further me towards my goal. And that … wouldn’t necessarily be submitting my work to a magazine or something like that. It would be reading a good short story, or even reading a magazine article about a writer, or it could be something really small:  giving myself 10 minutes to sit and try to write a good sentence…. Or I’d go to a reading at a bookstore. And of course I wouldn’t make it every day. I’m sure there were many days I didn’t do something, but if you keep pushing yourself with these small steps toward a goal, you eventually reach it. And the most important thing–because often times, particularly with beginning writers, I think they feel that what they’re doing isn’t worthwhile–is time: finding ways to give yourself time, to make time, to write. Treat it like it’s something important. Value what you do. You do have something important to say.

It’s here! Our debut event! Please join us on Saturday for The Creative Connection with Hannah Tinti.

Saturday, July 19, 2:30 pm
The Salem Athenaeum
337 Essex Street, Salem, MA

Light refreshments will be served. Look up the title of Hannah’s first book and you’ll get a hint for what we’re serving. Hope to see you there!

The “Last Word” is celebrating it’s one-year anni on Friday June 27th. They’ve got excellent readings planned from award winning poets Michael Hoerman, Sarah Getty and Jennifer Jean, as well as AWP winner Rod Kessler and local singer songwriter Rachel McCartney. An open mic will follow.

Monets Garden Art Cafe
95 Rantoul Street
Starts at 8 PM
$3 requested donation.

Thanks to our incredible friends at The Salem Arts Association, The Salem Athenæum, and The Salem Culture Fest, you can get your creative writing fix in a few ways this summer, including a free manuscript critique, visiting with the author of a critically acclaimed new novel, and kickstarting your writing with the help of an accomplished instructor…

First up is the Creative Connection!

Novelist Hannah Tinti will be coming home to Salem before embarking on a national book tour to promote her new novel, and not only to relax with family and friends. On Saturday, July 19th at 2:30 pm, new Salem-based writing center The Parlor will host Hannah Tinti for their first annual Creative Connection held at The Salem Athenæum. Read the rest of this entry »

As much as we love Gulu Gulu, we never got in gear to get over there for any of the Poetry Month events. Thankfully Gulu has decided to extend the series, so there’s still time to experience Gulu Idol!

Gulu Idol! Poetry Series to Continue!
The Salem Gulu will host the Witch City Poetry Series on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of every month.  Sign-up begins at 5PM with readings beginning at 5:45PM. The Lynn Gulu will host the Speak Up - Spoken Word Open-Mic every Wednesday of every month!  The Open-Mic starts at 7:30PM and sign up starts at 7PM.

Annual Poetry Read-In
Saturday April 26th at 2:00 p.m.
The Salem Athenæum
337 Essex  Street

From The Athenæum: You are cordially invited to bring along a few of your favorite poems and to join in the group reading. This is a celebration of the beauty of poetic language and the wisdom, sincerity, and humor that poems express.   Lemonade and cookies will be served to keep spirits high. Please extend this invitation to any of your friends who are also lovers of poetry. We hope to see you this Saturday at the Athenaeum!   

April 24, 7 PM
Monet’s Garden Cafe
Red Brick Art Gallery
95 Rantoul Street
Beverly, Massachusetts

Member of The Parlor’s Advisory Board, Rusty Barnes, is reading at Monet’s Garden cafe with Timothy Gager and Michael Hoerman. This is a great chance to get a copy of Rusty’s book Breaking It Down!