Poetry at Fruitlands: Kevin Gallagher, Claire Conroy, Eileen P. Kennedy

Claire Conroy (Beat Poet Laureate of Maine 2024-2026) has been called a “Protest Jazz Poet”, “The ‘Contact’ Queen”, “Emcee of Awesomeness” and “Soul Sister” of the Production Team for GonzoFest in NYC, July of 2026. She served as a board member of the Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program (2021-2026) and hosted their HOOT Open Mic. Claire also hosts Beat Night in Biddeford, Maine, at Flourish. She has self-published two books (Listen, 2018 and Silent, 2022) and a chapbook (Rumors from Dead Lips, 2024). Her third book, Inlets, was published by Keeping the Flame Alive Press in 2026.

Kevin Gallagher is a poet and publisher living in Greater Boston.  His latest book of poems is Diving at the Moon (Spuyten Duyvil), with translations by Wang Ping.  Previous books include And Yet it Moves and The Wild Goose. Gallagher edits spoke, a Boston-based annual of poetry and poetics.

Eileen P. Kennedy is the author of three collections of poetry. Banshees (Flutter Press, 2015), which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and won Second Prize in Poetry from the Wordwrite Book Awards, and Touch My Head Softly (Finishing Line Press, 2021), which Literary Titan has described as “emotionally-charged poetry that explores life with observant poems that will appeal to anyone who loves inspired poetry.” Her latest book, Dread and Splendor: Paintings and Poems for a New Earth, (Shanti Arts Press, 2026) was a finalist for the International Book Awards in General Poetry. She lives, writes, teaches, and reads in Amherst, MA.

The reading will be held in the Fruitlands Museum Wayside Gallery. The building is wheelchair-accessible. The reading is free; registration is requested.

Make a day of it—arrive early or linger after the reading to explore the grounds. Deepen your visit by exploring Fruitlands’ historic spaces and collection. Learn more and purchase Museum admission here. Please note that Museum admission is not included with the reading.