Salem poetry events are flourishing as the city approaches its 400th anniversary celebration. On Sunday, January 11, the city’s first Poet Laureate, J.D. Scrimgeour, will launch his new book at the Peabody Essex Museum. This special reading marks nearly three decades of literary engagement with Salem. For poetry lovers and community members alike, it’s a meaningful moment.
Salem’s First Poet Laureate Celebrates Three Decades
J.D. Scrimgeour has spent nearly 30 years observing and engaging with Salem. From playgrounds to classrooms and ballfields, he has found poetry in everyday moments. Mayor Dominick Pangallo appointed him as Salem’s first Poet Laureate in October 2024. His two-year term aligns perfectly with Salem’s 400th anniversary celebration in 2026.
Additionally, Scrimgeour serves as a Professor of English at Salem State University. He has authored five poetry collections, including The Last Miles, Lifting the Turtle, Festival, and the bilingual 香蕉面包 Banana Bread. His nonfiction book Themes for English B: A Professor’s Education In & Out of Class won the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Award. Most recently, Nixes Mate Books published his collection Small, Rectangular, Reflected World in 2025.
Salem Poetry Events at the Peabody Essex Museum
The PEM Reads book launch takes place on Sunday, January 11, 2026, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. This is one of the most anticipated Salem poetry events of the new year. The afternoon will include a reading by Scrimgeour from his latest work. Furthermore, David Snider, Director of Learning & Community Engagement at PEM, will lead an author discussion.
Guests can also enjoy a light reception and book signing. Admission is free for Salem residents and Salem State University community members. All other attendees must purchase museum tickets. Pre-registration is encouraged through the Peabody Essex Museum website.
About Poet in High Street Park
Scrimgeour’s new book, Poet in High Street Park: Prose & Poetry for Modern Salem, offers a unique perspective on the city. According to the publisher, it’s “a love song to Salem by a writer who has grounded himself in the everyday realities of living in the city for the past 30 years.”
The collection explores universal themes through local perspectives. It highlights the lived experiences of Salem residents beyond seasonal events. Consequently, readers will find reflections on community identity that resonate deeply.
Fellow writers have praised the work extensively. Charlotte Gordon, author of Romantic Outlaws and winner of the National Book Critics Award, notes that Scrimgeour’s writing captures “people we might walk past, unless, like this poet, we stop and listen.” Similarly, Alan Feldman, winner of the Massachusetts Book Award for poetry, calls him “a fresh and original writer of stalwart courage with very, very sharp eyes.”
A Legacy of Salem Poetry Events and Community Building
Scrimgeour’s contributions to Salem poetry events extend far beyond his personal writing. He played a key role in bringing the Massachusetts Poetry Festival to Salem in 2011. The festival continues in the city today. He also founded and directs the Salem Poetry Seminar. This partnership between Salem State University and the Salem Athenaeum brings undergraduate poets to Salem for intensive study each year.
Currently, he leads “Pieces of Salem,” an anthology project for the quadricentennial celebration. This initiative invites residents to submit poetry and prose about their experiences living in Salem. As a result, community voices will shape how the city tells its own story.
His connection to Salem runs deep. He has lived in the city since 1996 with his wife, Eileen FitzGerald. Their two sons attended Salem public schools. Moreover, his ancestor, Mary Towne Eastey, was executed during the Salem Witch Trials. Words from her petition, which helped end the Trials, appear on the Salem Witch Trials Memorial.
How to Attend This Salem Poetry Event
The book launch is free for Salem residents and SSU community members. Others can attend by purchasing PEM museum tickets. Pre-registration is encouraged on the Peabody Essex Museum website.
Poet in High Street Park: Prose & Poetry for Modern Salem is available from Loom Press for $20. Community members are invited to celebrate Scrimgeour, the city of Salem, and the power of local engagement through Salem poetry events like this one.
As Nina MacLaughlin wrote in New England Literary News: “J.D. Scrimgeour brings us hip-deep into the unsolvables… Here is where we live, Scrimgeour seems to say, this place of tug, this place of risk and potency.”
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J.D. Scrimgeour is a Creative Collective member and Thursday Poet. Learn more at jdscrimgeour.com or reach him at poet@salem.com.
J.D. Scrimgeour – The Thursday Poets
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J.D. Scrimgeour: The author of five poetry collections, the most recent being a book of bilingual poetry, 香蕉面包 /Banana Bread (Nixes Mate Press). He also won the Association of Writers and Writing Program’s (AWP) Award for Nonfiction for his second book of nonfiction, Themes for English B: A Professor’s Education In & Out of Class. With musician Philip Swanson he
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