Telling Toads
Celebrate the wonder of amphibians and reptiles
with a story, a poem or a personal anecdote
Scrawny
Legs on a lump
Of knobbled mud, turning slow,
Blinking golden eyes, gulps a fly,
And stops.
Have you a tale you could tell? A poem that could hop its
way onto these pages? A new story that should be spoken? This is an invitation
to celebrate the amphibians of the world, from the Frog in your pond to the
Toad who creeps through the woodland, from the sheer excitement of a wriggle of
tadpoles to the glory of a toad’s golden eyes. Join me for a celebration of amphibians through words.
Amphibians are in danger. Of all the vertebrate groups,
amphibians seem to be in the most perilous of situations as populations across
the world dwindle before pollution and habitat loss and the ravages of
infections they have no defence against. Froglife is a UK based charity that
sets out to promote amphibian conservation through active habitat management
and wider education. While, Froglife is UK-based, the issues facing amphibians
are global and I hope that by sharing our stories and poems we might add a
little more momentum to a wider awareness of the wonders of the amphibian
worlds.
I am not going to go into the conservation issues here. The
Froglife website is a good starting point for UK folks and I am sure you can
find local sites in other countries. Here, I would like to invite and challenge
my friends in the storytelling, natural history writing and poetry worlds – and
just about anyone who feels inspired - to drop their words into this Toad-pool.
There are no prizes, probably no money, but I invite us all just to share our
creativity because it is a good thing to do. Not because it is weak or feeble
or over-privileged but because sharing rewards by its own action and if telling
someone else’s story, reciting someone else’s poem can help excite a listener
to look a little more closely at the frogs in the field, then we’ll be doing a
good job.
I started the Telling Toads project a couple of years ago but then it settled into hibernation. With a hop and a shake and an optmistic croak, as the froglets gear up and toadlets get ready to venture bravely out onto grass (please don't cut your lawn when you see them migrating!), Telling Toads is getting going again....
What we’re looking for
We’re looking for poems or short stories about frog and
toads. These might be personal anecdotes, reports of your own adventures, retelling
of ancient myths, or pieces catching what you find is the essence of toad-life.
We don’t want scientific papers – but the personal experience of that study
might give us rich words to share
No. of words: to
keep this under some sort of control: maximum number of words is 500
 | |
| something a little more exotic might inspire.... |
Other practical stuff
Nature of work:
if your work is racist, sexist, or discriminates on the grounds of species, religion
or gender identity, or comes across as simply offensive, we will reject it
The work must be your
own original work: if it has been published before, at this stage that is
OK as long as we have your permission to put it on a blog. If we build to
publication we’ll need to revisit this. We will, meanwhile acknowledge the
original publication if you include the details! In submitting your work, you
accept that it might be published online and that this is acceptable to you. If
the possibility of publication with remuneration develops, we will come back to
you
Editorial control:
I am the editor of the Toadwords collection and while I will refer to other
writers for opinions, I will hold editorial control
Submissions language:
English please! Unless there is someone out there who might want to run a
parallel Spanish or other language version
 |
| your work will be given serious consideration.... |
What will happen
1. First responses: initially, we’ll see what sort of response we
get. First submissions will be published on this Creeping Toad blog. If
submissions build up in numbers, we’ll set up a separate Toadwords blog or
website.
2. Growing numbers: If numbers and quality of
work merits it, we’ll look at producing an online resource for people to tap
into. Perhaps as a downloadable pdf. If there would be charge for this, we will
contact authors about royalties and permissions
3. As work comes in, selected pieces may also appear on the
Froglife website and might feature in issues of the newsletter Natterchat
Submissions
As word or plain-text attachments please to:
toadwords@btinternet.com
Froglife: and
just so no-one can say they don’t know, yes I am not at all impartial. I like
Froglife. I am one of their Trustees and I have no qualms at all about saying
that I think they/we are an excellent organisation. And, yes, i do know that other amphibian and reptile centred organsiations are available!
Newts, salamanders
and caecilians: and no, we’re not ignoring the rest of the amphibian order,
all the amphibs are welcome…and reptiles are
invited to the word-party too!
 |
| adventurous toad |
Picture credits: from the top:
Toad: myself
Rushes: V Walker
Goldsitch Moss: myself
Dart Frog: Martin Paul
Majestic Toad: Kenny Taylor
Adventurous toadlet: Ian MacLellan
with many thanks!
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