State of Maine Beat Poet Laureate (2024-2026)

Claire Conroy grew up in the Seacoast of Maine and New Hampshire. She was born in

Portsmouth, NH and attended school in Eliot and York, Maine. Drawn to writing, history,

crafts, arts and music, Claire was by far most deeply moved by words found in songs. 

As a student, she loved to read and write stories, especially poetry. In high school, the

social pressure to meet certain expectations beat her down. Being told that writing isn’t

a realistic career path to pursue discouraged her. Not seeing any options for furthering

her education, she gave up writing and went into an early marriage, which failed.

Twenty years later, Claire came back to poetry. This time, she employed it as a tool for

therapy and introspection. She happily adopted it into her life in a selfish period of self

love, rather than throw herself into another relationship. It was time for her to choose

herself.

Since then, she has written and self published two books of poetry (“Listen” 2018 and

“Silent” 2022) and a chapbook (“Rumors from Dead Lips” 2024). She has been

translated into Hindi by Devesh Path Sariya in 2019 and published in over a dozen

anthologies. She has taken part in global poetry readings online.

Claire loves gatherings for poetry and often attends and participates in open mic events. 

She has had the pleasure of sharing the stage with many musicians and the dance

troupe, Sisters Phoenix. It was her absolute honor for her to be invited to be a featured

reader at PoetFest in St Augustine, Florida during National Poetry Month, April 2024.

A proud board member of New Hampshire’s Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program, Claire

is the host of the PPLP’s monthly open mic event, The HOOT. She works in the

Cannabis Industry and supports national cannabis reform. She lives in Sanford, Maine.