Beat Night

06/03/2026

Mckendy Fils-Aimé is a New England based Haitian American poet, organizer, and teaching artist. He is the author of sipèstisyon (YesYes Books, 2026) and has received fellowships from Callaloo, Cave Canem, The Watering Hole, CantoMundo, and Periplus. Over the span of nearly two decades, Mckendy has represented New England in several regional and national poetry slams, performing on numerous semifinal and final stages. Mckendy’s work has been featured or is forthcoming in Best New Poets, Adroit, Muzzle, American Literary Review, the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series, and elsewhere.

05/28/2026

15th poet laureate of Portsmouth Myles Burr reading with the beat night band at the Press room. We can't wait to see what Myles does over the next two years as laureate!

05/27/2026

Come meet the new brank spanking new poet laureate of Portsmouth Myles Burr at Beat Night at the Press Room tomorrow May 28thth at 7pm

05/08/2026

04/23/2026

April 30th 7pm The Press Room

RescuePoetix | Susan Justiniano is an award-winning bilingual performing poet and teaching artist, whose work centers on matriarchal inheritance, legacy, and healing. Rooted in her Puerto Rican identity, she blends poetry, media, and performance to honor intergenerational stories. Published works appear in journals, anthologies, and community spaces across the diaspora.

Beat Poet Laureate of Maine 2024-2026, Claire Conroy self published two books (“Listen” in 2018 and “Silent” in 2022) and a chapbook (“Rumors From Dead Lips” in 2024). Her third book (“Inlets” 2026) was published by Keeping the Flame Alive Press. Born in Portsmouth, NH, she is a board member of the Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program and hosts their open mics, The HOOT and Painting Poetry. Claire lives in Sanford, Maine and is a board member of the Sanford Arts Commission. She also hosts Beat Night at Flourish in Biddeford, Maine and has been published in over 40 anthologies. Claire is happy to announce her third book, Inlets: Memoir Poetry, published by Keeping the Flame Alive Press, is available on Amazon.

02/26/2026

Bring those poems you wouldn't read to your mom to Erotic Beat Night on Thursday February 26th where we do our own spicy version of Valentine's! Hosted by the saucy Amanda Shedonist and backed by the super sexy beat night band.

02/01/2026

Bring those poems you wouldn't read to your mom to erotic poetry night at beat night on February 26th where we do our own spicy version of Valentine's! Hosted by the saucy Amanda Giles and backed by the super sexy beat night band.

12/02/2025

Ever since she learned that poems do not need to rhyme, Lauren WB
Vermette has been flinging emotions at the page like an action-painter
slings paint at a canvas. Once she got over her fear of microphones, she
has been burning them up at every local reading she can find. Her work
has appeared in Rat’s Ass Review Journal, Sledgehammer, Solstice, and
Underground Writers Association, among others. Her first collection of
poetry, And The Form Falls Away (2018), was published by Bee Monk Press. Lauren WB Vermette is currently serving as the 14th Poet Laureate of Portsmouth, NH.

Jason O’Toole is Poet Laureate Emeritus of North Andover, MA. He serves on the advisory board of the New England Poetry Club, and as treasurer of the Independent Living Resource Center San Francisco. He is the winner of the 2025 Amy Lowell Prize and has been nominated for the
Rhysling and Pushcart Prize. He serves as a judge for the Tom Nattell
Peace Poetry Prize and the Capital District Slam Poetry Festival in NY.
Recent poems and prose have appeared in the anthology Love is for All of Us (Storey Publishing), as well as Ghost City Press, The Somerville
Times, Phil Lit, and Tiny Molecules.