The Ice Sonnets

Cover of 'The Ice Sonnets' by Christopher James and published by Dithering Chaps stands on a shelf next to plants and a buddha.

About the chapbook

Dwayne Fields holds his copy of The Ice Sonnets, published by Dithering Chaps press, at the South Pole

‘The Ice Sonnets’ is a poetry chapbook published by Dithering Chaps press, an independent UK poetry chapbook publisher. This collection brings together Christopher James’s distinctive voice and artistic skills in a sequence that explores themes of heroic courage and resilience in the face of life-threatening risks.

Publication details:

Publisher: Dithering Chaps

Format: Poetry chapbook

Length: 84 pages

Publication date: December 2025

ISBN: 978-1-9192765-0-2

You can discover more of our publications here.
We remain open for poetry chapbook submissions all year round — details on our Submissions page.

A grayscale drawing of Frank Wild, wearing goggles and a hooded coat, with a caption indicating he was an explorer in Second in Command from 1873 to 1939.
Now available - order here!

The Ice Sonnets, by Christopher James, charts Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914-17) in poetry and sketches - one for each crew member on the two ships involved.

This was the most ambitious adventure of its kind yet conceived. The buccaneering Irish-born adventurer set his sights on becoming the first to cross the great white continent, from sea to sea.

Gathering his most trusted lieutenants from previous expeditions, Shackleton felt certain that this was his moment to make history. However, the crews were to be tested in ways they had not prepared for, and they experienced dangers and challenges at every turn.

The Ice Sonnets tells the story of not one, but two great escapes, and pays homage to the heroism and resilience of the crews, struggling to survive in life-threatening conditions.

We published The Ice Sonnets on 1st December 2025 (Antarctica Day) and you can order your copy here.

The Ice Sonnets Reaches the South Pole with Explorer Dwayne Fields

Wednesday, 7th January, 2026 - In a remarkable meeting of poetry and polar exploration, Dwayne Fields (adventurer, broadcaster, and the first Black Briton to walk to the Magnetic North Pole) has carried a copy of our chapbook, The Ice Sonnets, all the way to the South Pole.

Fields, whose work champions access to the outdoors for young people, set out on his latest expedition with a small selection of personal items. Among them was our chapbook: a slim volume of lyric meditations on ice, heroism, endurance, and the fragile beauty of polar landscapes. To know that these poems travelled with him to one of the most remote places on Earth is so satisfying for us, as their publisher, and for their author, Christopher James.

We’re deeply grateful to Dwayne for taking the collection with him, and for the work he continues to do, inspiring the next generation of explorers and readers!

A selection of sketches from
The Ice Sonnets

Christopher James with a beard and bald head smiling, sitting at a wooden table, drawing pencil sketches of members of the crew with a pencil on paper.

About the Author


Poet, artist and Scout, Christopher James

Christopher James, born in Paisley, Scotland, in 1975, has won first prize in the National Poetry Competition, The Bridport Prize, and the Oxford Brookes and George Crabbe poetry competitions. He has also received the Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors.

Having written three Sherlock Holmes novels, including 'The Adventure of the Ruby Elephants', Chris has also created a triptych of plays about Sir John Betjeman.

A graduate of the MA course in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, he has published five poetry collections, including 'Farewell to the Earth' (Arc, 2011), 'The Penguin Diaries' (Templar, 2017), and a pamphlet, 'The Storm in the Piano' (Maytree Press, 2022).

Christopher James
A smiling man standing on a balcony with arms outstretched, overlooking a cityscape with modern buildings and a blue sky with clouds.
A man with a bicycle helmet smiling in front of a shrub wall and a sign indicating bicycles are not allowed, with a small folding bicycle parked on the ground beside him.
A man sitting on a wooden bench next to a bear statue dressed in a blue coat and red hat, holding a slice of bread. The setting appears to be an outdoor shopping or dining area with umbrellas and storefronts in the background.
A man holding a microphone and a piece of paper standing to the right of a large screen displaying the Scouts logo. The background shows colorful bunting and promotional banners for Scouts.
A man with a beard and shaved head wearing a blue jacket and red backpack stands on a rocky shoreline with arms crossed, facing a body of water under a partly cloudy sky.