Past Freeport Folio Events
July 30, 2026 | 7PM
FCS Bradley Room
Freeport Community Center
53 Depot St. Freeport, ME
Open Mic | Featured Poet Richard Blanco
July 30, 2026 Open Mic Event
Featured Poet | Richard Blanco
Fifth US Presidential Inaugural Poet
& National Humanities Medal Winner
Website & Book sales here
Selected by President Obama as the fifth Presidential Inaugural Poet in U.S. history, Richard Blanco was the youngest, the first Latinx, immigrant, and gay person to serve in that role. In 2023, Blanco was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Biden from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Born in Madrid to Cuban exile parents and raised in Miami in a working-class family, Blanco’s personal negotiation of cultural identity and the universal themes of place and belonging characterize Blanco’s many collections of poetry, including his most recent, Homeland of My Body, which reassesses the idea of home as a fixed geographical place and locates it instead within us.
Thank you to our Venue Sponsor
Freeport Community Services Age Friendly Freeport & Pownal
April 30, 2026
A Celebration of the Maine Poets Laureate
Meetinghouse Arts, Freeport
A special evening celebrating Maine’s extraordinary poetic legacy. A partnership between Maine Arts Commission, Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance and Freeport Folio. A rare conversation and reading featuring Maine’s past, present and future Poets Laureate.
We heard from:
-Julia Bouwsma (2021–2026)
-Stuart Kestenbaum (2016–2020)
-Wes McNair (2011–2015)
-Betsy Sholl (2006–2010)
and Maine Poet Laureate Elect Dawn Potter (2027-2031)
The evening included readings of work by Maine Poets Laureate Baron Wormser (2000–2005) and Kate Barnes (1996–1999).
Thank you to our partners Maine Arts Commission, Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, University of Maine at Augusta and Maya Williams of Poetry Out Loud. Thank you also to Event Sponsor Kennebec Savings Bank, Media Sponsor Down East Magazine & Venue Sponsor Meetinghouse Arts in Freeport.
April 25, 2026 | 7PM
Freeport Poetry Celebration
A Saturday evening of poetry and music at Freeport Community Library brought together workshop participants, competition winners and community readers.
The night opened with beautiful music from Dominic Lavoie.
Poet and Registered Maine Guide Joseph Coleman presented readings from participants in his Pressure Makes Diamonds workshop.
Poet Colin Cheney, National Poetry Series winner and Pushcart Prize recipient, read from his own work and introduced the winning poets from the 2026 Freeport Poetry Competition.
The evening closed with an open mic.
Colin Cheney
Website
Thank you to our Partner Freeport Community Library.
April 25, 2026
POETRY WORKSHOP Pressure Makes Diamonds
Taught by Joseph Coleman
Maine Poet & Registered Maine Guide
Joseph Coleman
Instagram Here
Thank you to our Partner Freeport Community Library.
April 11, 2026 | 1PM
FCS Bradley Room
Freeport Community Center
53 Depot St. Freeport, ME
Open Mic | Featured Poet Betsy Sholl
April 11, 2026 Open Mic Event
Featured Poet | Betsy Sholl
Maine Poet Laureate 2006-2010
Bio & Book sales here
Thank you to our Venue Sponsor
Freeport Community Services Age Friendly Freeport & Pownal
April 4, 2026
POETRY WORKSHOP
Using Poetry to Process Pet Grief
Poet Lynne Schmidt
2025 Maine Literary Arts Fellow
Lynne Schmidt
Bio Here
Thank you to our Partner Freeport Community Library. Workshop sponsored by Pet Pantry of Freeport
April 1-30, 2026
Freeport Poetry Walk
“What Holds Us Together” Poetry stroll in downtown Freeport for National Poetry Month
April 2026
Poetry Walk Box
Freeport Community Library
Links to All Freeport Poetry Walk Poems Here
Thank you to our Partner Freeport Community Library and the businesses, nonprofit partners & visitors along the walk.
2026 Freeport Poetry Competition
“What Holds Us Together”
2026 Poetry Competition
Links to Winning Poems Here
A Poetry Competition about the meaning
of community held throughout the month of March 2026. Poems were judged by National Poetry Series winner and Pushcart Prize recipient, Freeport poet Colin Cheney.
Selected Poems were:
- Publicly displayed on a Freeport Poetry Walk throughout the Freeport community
- On Display at the Freeport Community Library
- Invited to Read at the Freeport Poetry Celebration
- All poem submissions were archived by the Freeport Historical Society
Thank you to our Partners Freeport Community Library, Poet Colin Cheney & Freeport Historical Society
January 17, 2026 | 1PM
FCS Bradley Room
Freeport Community Center
53 Depot St. Freeport, ME
Open Mic | Featured
Poet Carol Bachofner
January 17, 2026 Open Mic Event
Featured Poet | Carol W. Bachofner
Rockland Maine Poet Laureate Emerita
Carol Willette Bachofner Statement on Poetry
Instagram Link
Thank you to our January artist sponsor:
Thank you to our host Freeport Community Services Age Friendly Freeport & Pownal
October 9th, 2025 | 7PM
FCS Bradley Room
Freeport Community Center
53 Depot St. Freeport, ME
Open Mic | Featured
Poet Gary Lawless
October 9, 2025 Open Mic Event
Featured Poet | Gary Lawless
Author/Poet/Publisher/Gulf of Maine Books Co-owner
Thank you to our October artist sponsor:
Thank you to our host Freeport Community Services Age Friendly Freeport & Pownal
July 24, 2025 | 7PM
FCS Bradley Room
Freeport Community Center
53 Depot St. Freeport, ME
Open Mic | Featured
Poet Maya Williams
July 24, 2025 Open Mic Event
Featured Poet | Maya Williams
Portland Maine Poet Laureate 2021-2024
Thank you to our July artist sponsor:
Thank you to our host Freeport Community Services Age Friendly Freeport & Pownal
April 26, 2025 | 1PM
FCS Bradley Room
Freeport Community Center
53 Depot St. Freeport, ME
Open Mic | Featured
Poet: Freeport’s own
Harry Lyman Koopman
(read by Jonas Werner)
April 26, 2025 Open Mic Event
Featured Poet | Harry Lyman Koopman
Freeport, Maine Poet 1860-1937
(Bio)
A partnership event with Meetinghouse Arts & our host Freeport Community Services