author
Kate Slaughter McKinney
b. 1857
A Kentucky-born poet who wrote under the pen name “Katydid,” she built a long literary life that stretched from newspaper publication in her teens to recognition as Alabama’s poet laureate. Her work helped keep regional and devotional verse in public view across the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
1 Audiobook
Katydid's Poems
by Kate Slaughter McKinney
About the author
Born in London, Kentucky, on February 6, 1857, Kate Slaughter McKinney was an American writer and poet best known by the pen name Katydid. She published early, with accounts of her life noting that her first work appeared while she was still a teenager, and she later studied at Daughters’ College in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.
McKinney wrote poetry and prose for newspapers and magazines, and her books include Katydid's Poems, The Silent Witness, and The Weed by the Wall. Her writing was part of a literary career that connected Kentucky roots with later life in Alabama.
She is especially remembered for being elected Poet Laureate of the State of Alabama in 1931. McKinney died on March 2, 1939, leaving behind a body of work that reflects the tastes and rhythms of her era.