Konza Tallgrass Prairie Haiku

About the Book

Konza Tallgrass Prairie Haiku—by poet, photographer, and neuroscientist Judith Lauter—offers an introduction to some of the wonders of the Konza Tallgrass Prairie Preserve located south of Manhattan, Kansas. Part of the beautiful Flint Hills region of northeast Kansas, Konza is a treasure trove of hills and valleys shaped by creeks that contribute to the watershed of the Kaw (Kansas) River.

Through photos and poems, the author guides us to a greater appreciation of this area, beginning on the banks of the Kaw, and then following a tributary creek to a trail that wanders through a gallery forest, up a hill bright with prairie wildflowers, and finally to a lookout where we find more flowers, a monarch butterfly on its migration, and a breathtaking Flint Hills sunset. Endnotes provide information about Konza prairie, including facts about the plants and animals shown in the photos.

About the Author

Judith Lauter (JudithLauter.com) was born in Austin, Texas. When she was nine, her family moved to Michigan where she later met her husband, the poet Ken Lauter, in a poetry-writing seminar at the University of Michigan taught by Donald Hall (US Poet Laureate, 2006-7). Th e couple has subsequently lived in the deserts of Arizona, the mountains of Colorado, the prairies of Missouri and Oklahoma, and now make their home in the pineywoods of Nacogdoches TX. Judith holds a BA in English literature, three master’s degrees (creative writing, library/information science, and linguistics), and a PhD in communication sciences (Washington University in St. Louis). She taught and directed human neuroscience laboratories at major universities for more than three decades, before retiring in 2012 and returning to her fi rst loves, photography and poetry. In addition to scientifi c articles, chapters, and books (including How is Your Brain Like a Zebra? Xlibris, 2008, ZebraBrain.net), she has published poems in journals, and won two Hopwood Awards for poetry (University of Michigan), an Academy of American Poets prize (University of Denver), and the Norma Lowry Memorial Prize (Washington University). Her prize-winning photography has been compared to Eliot Porter’s; reproductions (including selections from this book) are available at FineArtAmerica.com. She has published eight previous books of poetry-and-images with Xlibris, plus a book of photos and poems about Wallace Stevens with the Stephen F. Austin State University Press (see inside for titles).