Please forward widely!!!

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: July 1, 2009

From the Big Bad Wolf to _Jaws_, Shere Khan the crafty tiger to Shelob the ever-hungry spider, predators often get a bad rap in human stories about them. Perhaps we fear and hate predators because we were once their prey (and sometimes still are). Or maybe it's because they sometimes eat our sheep, or compete with us for game animals. Or perhaps it's because they remind us of the proper role in the natural order that they play but we no longer do--a discomfort that is suggested by the many uneasy stories of human-predator hybrid creatures such as werewolves and selkies.

Yet predators of land, water, and air play crucial roles in their ecosystems, thinning out weak and diseased animals, and keeping populations of deer and mice and flies in check. And they also have and still do play crucial roles as models for human society: for instance, by cooperating together to achieve a kill that one alone could not, and gently caring for their young.

For this issue of the _NILAS (Nature in Legend and Stories) Annual_, we are seeking stories that cover the full gamut of human reactions to predators, from demonization to totemization. We especially invite stories that reimagine predators from their own keen-eyed point of view, or that foreground their intimate ties to the places where they hunt. We're also looking for essays that recover positive tales of predators from cultures around the world. Our hope is that by changing the stories we tell about predators, we can also change our all-too-often negative views of them. Fiction and nonfiction, poetry and artwork (reproducible in black and white)--all are welcome.

To submit material for the annual, please email it to guest editor Ronnie Copeland at mwcopeland@comcast.net BY JULY 1. The annual will be published in late summer or early fall 2009. Since we are an entirely volunteer operation, we cannot offer payment to contributors. However, anyone whose material is accepted for publication will receive one free copy of the annual.

For more information, please email Ronnie at the address above, or Dave at the address below. We look forward to your submissions!

Dave Aftandilian
Managing Editor, _NILAS Annual_
daftandi@gmail.com