Join us on an immersive hike through native prairie and woodlands to celebrate the release of Wild Words, a new book from Humanities Kansas, which features native plant-inspired works from local poets.
The event was hosted at the KU Field Station and organized by the Lawrence Public Library. It was led by Megan Kaminski, KU professor and the editor behind Wild Words, and Courtney Masterson, executive director of the Native Lands Restoration Collaborative.
Kaminski opened the walk with a grounding mindfulness practice and read poetry from the book along the trail. Attendees got to experience the native plants about which the poetry was written, as Masterson shared their interesting histories and features. She passed around plants for the group to feel, smell, and even taste, from common milkweed to Prairie tea.
The tallgrass prairie is one of the rarest and most endangered ecosystems in the world. While the prairie used to thrive throughout eastern Kansas, only 4% of its original area remains today. As communities increasingly recognize the benefits of native landscapes — from supporting pollinators to combating climate change through carbon sequestration — events like this are critical to celebrating and protecting our precious local ecosystems.
