The Select Board has unanimously approved the appointment of three members to the Poet Laureate Selection Committee.

In September, the Select Board approved the creation of the committee to select a poet laureate. Stephen Iannaccone, a former poet laureate; Nancy Hewitt, Swampscott’s first poet laureate; and Sami Lawler, a retired teacher who previously organized the Young Poet Laureate program, will serve on the committee.

“We are going to offer seats to all who applied,” said Select Board Chair Katie Phelan.

A poet laureate is officially appointed by a government or institution and is expected to compose poetry for special occasions. The role dates back to 1315, when Albertino Mussato of Padua was named poet laureate. In more recent years, the title has been shared by the Poetry Foundation, which designates a Young People’s Poet Laureate, as well as the National Youth Poet Laureate and the United States Poet Laureate.

In Massachusetts, Regie Gibson was named the Commonwealth’s inaugural poet laureate in 2025. Many municipalities also have their own poets laureate, including J.D. Scrimgeour, who began a two-year term in Salem in 2025, and Michelle “LaPoetica” Richardson, appointed in April to a two-year term in Lynn.

In Swampscott, the three newly appointed committee members will serve staggered terms: Hewitt for one year, Iannaccone for two, and Lawler for three.

In addition to Hewitt, Iannaccone, and Lawler, the committee will include Swampscott Public Library Director Jonathan Nichols. Phelan will also be the representative from the Select Board.

There is a vacancy still for a representative from the school district.

“If anybody has any people who are itching to get on with us, please let Dianne (Marchese) know because we still have to fill that seat,” Phelan said.

According to the proposed timeline presented at the September Select Board meeting, the committee will draft guidelines over the winter, open the application process in late winter, and appoint a poet laureate by spring 2026.