Bardic Trails

Virtual Poetry each month featuring Kate Torode March 3rd

PR ... Feb. 23, 13026 [2026 AD] ... Art Goodtimes ... art@tellurideinstitute.org ... 970-729-0220

Missouri storyteller Kate Torode

reads at Bardic Trails Mar. 3rd

TELLURIDE ... Storyteller, writer, mixed-media painter and professional reinvention enthusiast Kate Torode of Missouri will be the featured storyteller for the Telluride Institute’s first Tuesday Talking Gourds’ Bardic Trails virtual Stories & Poems series Tuesday Mar. 3rd at 7 pm MST.

Kate tells us she is living her second act on the banks of the Mississippi in St. Louis. Her writing blends wit, warmth, and an affinity for existential snack food. After years in the corporate world supporting engineers, executives, and large teams, she did what many people only fantasize about during particularly bleak meetings: she listened to the quiet, persistent voice insisting there had to be more than calendars, budgets, and “just circling back.”

That voice eventually turned into humor, then stories, then a fully realized alter ego named Mallory Reynolds, also known as Chicken Nugget Girl. Through sharp wit, self-deprecation, and emotional honesty, Kate writes about burnout, grief, mental health, midlife unraveling, and the strange beauty of starting over when you’re fairly sure you should have everything figured out by now. Her work blends laugh-out-loud moments with genuine vulnerability, inviting readers to see themselves in the mess, the humor, and the resilience.

In addition to writing, Kate is a mixed-media abstract painter whose visual art explores chaos, healing, and the quiet courage required to begin again. Her creative universe—often referred to as the “Malloryverse” includes novels, short stories, experimental fiction, and emerging multimedia projects that blur the line between comedy and catharsis. She was a participant in the 2025 Fischer Poetry Contest.

When not building worlds or reworking punchlines, she’s painting, trapezing, being a self-proclaimed master puppeteer, laughing with her husband and five cats and navigating creative life with a mug of something warm and with a strong local art community.

For those that like prompts, we are suggesting “Mysterious Fork in the Road,” although poems on any subject are welcome. Virtual attendees are encouraged to bring a story or poem to share each month after the featured reader, their own work or someone else’s.

The Telluride Institute’s Talking Gourds Poetry Program hosts the free Bardic Trails virtual zoom series on the first Tuesday of each month. The Wilkinson Public Library continues as our collaboration partner, with town support from Commission for Community Assistance, Arts & Special Events.

No longer needing to register with the library, participants are encouraged to visit <https://www.tellurideinstitute.org/western-slope-calendar> to get the zoom link each month, if they aren’t already on our mailing list. Thanks to the Cantor Family, the Guttman Family Foundation, CCAASE and our Fischer and Cantor contest participants for supporting our program and projects.

Telluride’s Wilkinson Public Library and Talking Gourds have started a live Stories & Poems series at the library’s Magazine Room on the third Tuesday of every month, although we have changed the time from 5:30 pm to 5:15 pm -- so we have time to wrap up the sharing circle for the library’s closing time at 7 pm.

The series began in December with Montrose metaphysical poet Tracy Lightsey; in January we had Montrose storyteller Tanya Ishikawa; and in February we had poet/writer Karen Bellerose and musician Bob Beer – both of Lawson Hill. On Mar. 17th we will have Mary Hearding of Rico and a surprise guest.

For more information, visit the Telluride Institute Talking Gourds website: tellurideinstitute.org/talking-gourds

Feel free to post the attached flyer on social media

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