Spoken Word at The Vanilla Bean Cafe

POET LAUREATE OF BRISTOL TO READ AT

THE VANILLA BEAN CAFE

Poets at Large will present the Poet Laureate of Bristol CT Tom Lagasse on October 25th at 7 p.m.at the Vanilla Bean Café 450 Deerfield Road Pomfret CT. Lagasse a native of Bristol was selected to be the town’s poet laureate following his recognition as an Edwin Way Teale Artist in Residence last year a tribute to his nature poetry. Lagasse’s poetry spans his interests in current events nature relationships and baseball. His poem “Open Field” was honored by the National Baseball Poetry Festival in 2024 and his poem “My Mother the Shortstop” won the 2025 E. Ethelbert Miller Prize. Tom writes a monthly “Creativity” column for The

Bristol Edition. He currently runs an Open Mic at the Creative Jam Art Co.

Reading with him will be Karen Warinsky awarded poet and the coordinator of Poets at Large a group of regional poets who perform in MA and CT. Warinsky has published poetry widely since 2011. She is the author of four collections: Gold in Autumn (2020) and Sunrise Ruby (2022 Human Error Publishing) Dining with War (2023 Alien Buddha Press) and Beauty & Ashes (Kelsay Books 2025). Her poem “Mirage” won first place in the 2024 Ekphrastic Poetry Trust “Little League Moms” was selected as a winner by the National Baseball Poetry Festival in 2024 and she was made a Best of the Net nominee in 2023. Warinsky is also a former finalist of the Montreal International Poetry Contest. Find out more at:

https://karenwarinskypoetry.wordpress.com.

Poets at Large is now in its sixth year. PAL and is a part of Windham Arts. All events are ADA compliant. Admission to all Vanilla Bean events is $15.00 which includes a raffle. All Poets at Large events are sponsored in part by Linemaster Switch bankHometown WHZ Financial Advisors the Putnam Area Foundation and Charter Oak FCU. Contact a2FyZW4gISB3YXJpbnNreSB8IGdtYWlsICEgY29t to sign up for the open mic which is recommended for ages 18 and up and has a 5-minute max as time allows.