What a year it’s been for Dithering Chaps.

Three more of our books in the National Poetry Library. (As you can see, we went along to check!)

Thanks to everyone who has bought our books or submitted their poetry this year. We couldn’t do it without you!

We’re posting today’s blog to show solidarity with the UK”s small press publishing industry which is facing hard times.

The main participants in this sector have circulated an open letter to raise awareness of the pressures publishers are facing and to seek suggestions for improving matters.

Dithering Chaps is grateful that key players in this space are being proactive and seeking solutions.

We reproduce the circular in full for those reading this blog who haven’t come across it elsewhere.

Christopher James, whose collection we will be publishing later this year, shares with us how he came to write his Shackleton-inspired sonnet sequence.

We’ve just emailed out our latest (twice-yearly, upbeat) newsletter to our subscribers.

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Paul Nield, winner of the Bournemouth Writing Prize for Poetry, shares thoughts about his writing journey.

Here he is performing his winning poem, First Love, at Bourn Jammy, part of the Bournemouth Writing Festival.

I will be posting this blog diary for just over a month, starting in early January, to give you a fly-on-the-wall view of our process as editors and Bournemouth Writing Prize poetry judges. I'll post the newer entries at the top, so if you're joining me halfway through, and want to read chronologically, please scroll to the bottom and work your way up…

Photo Credit: Solid Imagery at the BWF 2024

We interviewed Nicole Durman to find out what inspired her to write poetry about her career as a nurse in A&E and hospice care.

Photo Credit: Solid Imagery at the BWF 2024

We’re delighted to announce that we have chosen Nicole Durman’s poetry collection, ‘Ghosts of Nightshifts Past’, for publication in 2025. Her poems rose to the top of our submissions shortlist.

Photograph: Solid Imagery

Our submissions window was a great success.
Here, we announce our shortlist of the poets we are considering for publication in 2025.

Dithering Chaps are proud to announce the imminent opening of our submissions window, to find poets to publish in 2025.

Introducing our latest recruit!

Our very own D G Herring was invited to lead a writing exercise on the subject of trees, as part of C W Blackburn’s Words for Wellbeing writing workshop. As you’ll see, David was very impressed by the creativity he found there …

We are thrilled to say Louise Walker’s collection of poetry will form part of the Dithering Chaps catalogue this year. Read more here …

We love being inspired by the work of other creatives so this month’s blog is about a wonderful chapbook we were given, which marries form and content in an exquisite way.

The anthology, Lines in the Sand, comprises winning submissions to the Bournemouth Writing Festival’s 2024 competition, published by Dithering Chaps press.

Our next published poet will be Anne Peterson and we took the opportunity to quiz her on the reason she chose to write her chapbook on the subject of Bulgaria.

Dithering Chaps explains that, although our focus is the promotion of new poetic talent, we also have to keep an eye on the financial side of publishing …