Salem has a long, distinguished literary history that continues today. This special event will allow you to sample the writing of several authors who are members of the Athenaeum or North Shore residents — the prose and verse of your talented neighbors.
Kevin Carey, Jim DeFilippi, Heather G. Marshall, Jennifer Martelli, Pedro Poitevin, Matthew Phillion, and Erica Waters will be reading from their recent publications. Most authors will have copies of their books will be available for purchase too!
Kevin Carey is Coordinator of Creative Writing at Salem State University. His books include: The Beach People, The One Fifteen to Penn Station, Jesus Was a Homeboy, Set in Stone, and Murder in the Marsh. His new novel, Junior Miles and the Junkman (Regal House / Fitzroy Books) just won the Paterson Prize for Books for Young Readers and has been chosen for the Pen Faulkner Writers in the Schools Program in Washington, D.C. His new co-written poetry collection is Olympus Heights (Lily Poetry Review). Kevin is the co-founder of Molecule: a tiny lit mag. A new film, MFA: The Terminal Degree, a murder mystery comedy, which he co-wrote and co-directed will premiere in the spring of 2025. Kevincareywriter.com
Jim DeFilippi (The Mules of Monte Cassino, Duck Alley, Jesus Burned) is a prolific and eccentric Salem author and novelist. At last count, he has published over two and a half million words. All forty-four of his titles are still in print at Amazon.com/author/jimdefilippi His bookshop can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Jim-Defilippi/e/B000APHXRI
Heather G. Marshall is an author, speaker, teacher, coach, and traveler. Her first novel, The Thorn Tree, released in 2014 (MP Publishing). Her second novel, When the Ocean Flies, released in 2024 (Vine Leaves Press). Her TED talk, “Letting Go of Expectations,” centers around her adoption and reunion. You can find out more about her at heathergmarshall.com.
Jennifer Martelli (she/her) has received fellowships from The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Monson Arts, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Her previous collection, The Queen of Queens, won the Italian American Studies Association Book Award and was shortlisted for the Massachusetts Book Award. Her most recent poetry collection is Psychic Party Under the Bottle Tree from Lily Poetry Review Books.
Matthew Phillion is the author of the Indestructibles, a YA superhero novel series, its spinoff Echo and the Sea, and the Dungeon Crawlers novella series. He is a member of the Salem Athenaeum’s writers committee and is a former journalist with a background in healthcare quality and cybersecurity.
The winner of the 2021 Juana Goergen Poetry Prize, Pedro Poitevin, originally from Guatemala, is a bilingual poet, translator, and mathematician. His English-language debut collection, Nowhere at Home (Penteract Press, 2023), explores traditional forms and experimental techniques. Poitevin’s work has appeared in Rattle, River Styx, and other notable journals.
Erica Waters writes dark fantasy and horror for teens and adults. Her second novel, The River Has Teeth, won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel and was also an Indie Next pick and a Kirkus Best Young Adult Book of 2021. Erica’s other works include Ghost Wood Song, The Restless Dark, and All That Consumes Us, as well as a story in the bestselling folk horror anthology The Gathering Dark.