Dithering Chaps - submissions open
@ditheringchaps.bsky.social
I'm David Herring, Lead Editor of indie poetry press, Dithering Chaps, based in Dorset, UK. We publish thematically-linked sequences of poems: works that riff on a core conceit, event or narrative voice. He/him. https://www.ditheringchaps.com
Our last shortlisted poet is Eloise Unerman, with her collection, 'a skeleton - finally'. Dark, cohesive & immersive, her poems have thematic depth & sustained atmosphere.
If you want to be in the running for our final publication in 2026, submissions are open now:
www.ditheringchaps.com/submissions
If you want to be in the running for our final publication in 2026, submissions are open now:
www.ditheringchaps.com/submissions
November 17, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Our last shortlisted poet is Eloise Unerman, with her collection, 'a skeleton - finally'. Dark, cohesive & immersive, her poems have thematic depth & sustained atmosphere.
If you want to be in the running for our final publication in 2026, submissions are open now:
www.ditheringchaps.com/submissions
If you want to be in the running for our final publication in 2026, submissions are open now:
www.ditheringchaps.com/submissions
Our third shortlisted poet is Ceri Morgan, with her collection, Unstuck, in which the form mirrors the emotional state: a mind unstuck from linearity.
If you want to be in the running for our final publication in 2026, submissions are open now!
www.ditheringchaps.com/submissions
#DitheringChaps
If you want to be in the running for our final publication in 2026, submissions are open now!
www.ditheringchaps.com/submissions
#DitheringChaps
November 12, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Our third shortlisted poet is Ceri Morgan, with her collection, Unstuck, in which the form mirrors the emotional state: a mind unstuck from linearity.
If you want to be in the running for our final publication in 2026, submissions are open now!
www.ditheringchaps.com/submissions
#DitheringChaps
If you want to be in the running for our final publication in 2026, submissions are open now!
www.ditheringchaps.com/submissions
#DitheringChaps
The second of our five shortlisted poets for May 2026 is Beth McDonough, who reanimates Goya's Los Caprichos etchings, drawing parallels between 18th-century grotesques and contemporary injustices.
Submissions are now open for our November 2026 publication slot - www.ditheringchaps.com/submissions.
Submissions are now open for our November 2026 publication slot - www.ditheringchaps.com/submissions.
November 6, 2025 at 7:41 AM
The second of our five shortlisted poets for May 2026 is Beth McDonough, who reanimates Goya's Los Caprichos etchings, drawing parallels between 18th-century grotesques and contemporary injustices.
Submissions are now open for our November 2026 publication slot - www.ditheringchaps.com/submissions.
Submissions are now open for our November 2026 publication slot - www.ditheringchaps.com/submissions.
We're down to a shortlist of five poets, all vying for a single publication slot next May. First up is Gabriel May, who has written a series of edgy and original ekphrastic poems, each one a meditation on two figures - Haruki Murakami and Raymond Carver; Lucas Cranach the Elder and Anish Kapoor...
November 1, 2025 at 12:23 PM
We're down to a shortlist of five poets, all vying for a single publication slot next May. First up is Gabriel May, who has written a series of edgy and original ekphrastic poems, each one a meditation on two figures - Haruki Murakami and Raymond Carver; Lucas Cranach the Elder and Anish Kapoor...
We’re proud to announce our April-Sep reading window shortlist. We couldn't be happier at the prospect of reading each of these original and poetically-stunning collections in full.
It’ll be a very tough call to choose just one...
#DitheringChaps @saccharinequeen.bsky.social @cerimair.bsky.social
It’ll be a very tough call to choose just one...
#DitheringChaps @saccharinequeen.bsky.social @cerimair.bsky.social
October 15, 2025 at 11:34 AM
We’re proud to announce our April-Sep reading window shortlist. We couldn't be happier at the prospect of reading each of these original and poetically-stunning collections in full.
It’ll be a very tough call to choose just one...
#DitheringChaps @saccharinequeen.bsky.social @cerimair.bsky.social
It’ll be a very tough call to choose just one...
#DitheringChaps @saccharinequeen.bsky.social @cerimair.bsky.social
We’re pleased to announce our longlist of poets under consideration for publication in May 2026!
The full list of longlisted poets is on our website: www.ditheringchaps.com/news
Our shortlist will be announced on 15th October.
Thank you to everyone who submitted - your work matters!
The full list of longlisted poets is on our website: www.ditheringchaps.com/news
Our shortlist will be announced on 15th October.
Thank you to everyone who submitted - your work matters!
October 8, 2025 at 1:29 PM
We’re pleased to announce our longlist of poets under consideration for publication in May 2026!
The full list of longlisted poets is on our website: www.ditheringchaps.com/news
Our shortlist will be announced on 15th October.
Thank you to everyone who submitted - your work matters!
The full list of longlisted poets is on our website: www.ditheringchaps.com/news
Our shortlist will be announced on 15th October.
Thank you to everyone who submitted - your work matters!
National Poetry Prize winner Christopher James' latest collection, The Ice Sonnets, is available for pre-order from Dithering Chaps. See our website for details: www.ditheringchaps.com/the-ice-sonn... #poetry #TheIceSonnets
October 5, 2025 at 7:07 PM
National Poetry Prize winner Christopher James' latest collection, The Ice Sonnets, is available for pre-order from Dithering Chaps. See our website for details: www.ditheringchaps.com/the-ice-sonn... #poetry #TheIceSonnets
Looking for a poetry editor who knows what it feels like to put his work out there (and has had his fair share of rejections)?
Hoping for a sympathetic ear & some constructive feedback?
Why not send your work to Dithering Chaps?
We do all the above.
www.ditheringchaps.com/submissions
Hoping for a sympathetic ear & some constructive feedback?
Why not send your work to Dithering Chaps?
We do all the above.
www.ditheringchaps.com/submissions
October 4, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Looking for a poetry editor who knows what it feels like to put his work out there (and has had his fair share of rejections)?
Hoping for a sympathetic ear & some constructive feedback?
Why not send your work to Dithering Chaps?
We do all the above.
www.ditheringchaps.com/submissions
Hoping for a sympathetic ear & some constructive feedback?
Why not send your work to Dithering Chaps?
We do all the above.
www.ditheringchaps.com/submissions
Standing room only at the launch of Nicole Durman's brilliant 'Ghosts of Nightshifts Past' in late July. The launch was covered by BBC Somerset and local press and we were glad to support our host Brendon Books by selling loads of copies! Get your copy here... www.ditheringchaps.com/ghosts-of-ni...
August 4, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Standing room only at the launch of Nicole Durman's brilliant 'Ghosts of Nightshifts Past' in late July. The launch was covered by BBC Somerset and local press and we were glad to support our host Brendon Books by selling loads of copies! Get your copy here... www.ditheringchaps.com/ghosts-of-ni...
Nicole Durman's stunning début collection is available now from Dithering Chaps www.ditheringchaps.com/ghosts-of-ni... #poetry #DitheringChaps #NHS #nursing
July 23, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Nicole Durman's stunning début collection is available now from Dithering Chaps www.ditheringchaps.com/ghosts-of-ni... #poetry #DitheringChaps #NHS #nursing
"The thrill is new things still happen..."
[Helen Kay: It Was Never About the Kingfisher from Dithering Chaps]
Shortlisted for the International Rubery Book Award (Poetry) 2025.
www.ruberybookaward.com/2025-winners...
Buy your copy here: www.ditheringchaps.com/it-was-never...
[Helen Kay: It Was Never About the Kingfisher from Dithering Chaps]
Shortlisted for the International Rubery Book Award (Poetry) 2025.
www.ruberybookaward.com/2025-winners...
Buy your copy here: www.ditheringchaps.com/it-was-never...
July 3, 2025 at 10:52 AM
"The thrill is new things still happen..."
[Helen Kay: It Was Never About the Kingfisher from Dithering Chaps]
Shortlisted for the International Rubery Book Award (Poetry) 2025.
www.ruberybookaward.com/2025-winners...
Buy your copy here: www.ditheringchaps.com/it-was-never...
[Helen Kay: It Was Never About the Kingfisher from Dithering Chaps]
Shortlisted for the International Rubery Book Award (Poetry) 2025.
www.ruberybookaward.com/2025-winners...
Buy your copy here: www.ditheringchaps.com/it-was-never...
Launching next month - one of the books in this box could be yours for just £9.95 - Nicole Durman's 'Ghosts of Nightshifts Past' www.ditheringchaps.com/ghosts-of-ni... #poetry #nhs #DitheringChaps
June 26, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Launching next month - one of the books in this box could be yours for just £9.95 - Nicole Durman's 'Ghosts of Nightshifts Past' www.ditheringchaps.com/ghosts-of-ni... #poetry #nhs #DitheringChaps
Dithering Chaps will be publishing 'The Ice Sonnets' by Christopher James later this year. Chris has an impressive poetic bio - including winning the National Poetry Competition and the Bridport Prize. Here he is introducing his collection and reading 'Leonard Hussey's Banjo'...
June 13, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Dithering Chaps will be publishing 'The Ice Sonnets' by Christopher James later this year. Chris has an impressive poetic bio - including winning the National Poetry Competition and the Bridport Prize. Here he is introducing his collection and reading 'Leonard Hussey's Banjo'...
It was a pleasure and an honour for the Dithering Chaps team to perform together at the launch of Long Poem Magazine #33 held in the Barbican Library last weekend. Here's me introducing our reading and a snippet from my poem 'Carbon Clumps'... #poetry #longpoemmagazine #Barbican
June 3, 2025 at 9:15 AM
It was a pleasure and an honour for the Dithering Chaps team to perform together at the launch of Long Poem Magazine #33 held in the Barbican Library last weekend. Here's me introducing our reading and a snippet from my poem 'Carbon Clumps'... #poetry #longpoemmagazine #Barbican
Hi, I'm David Herring, Lead Editor of Dithering Chaps, an indie publisher based in Dorset, UK. We publish three poetry collections a year and we're open for submissions...! www.ditheringchaps.com/submissions
May 29, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Hi, I'm David Herring, Lead Editor of Dithering Chaps, an indie publisher based in Dorset, UK. We publish three poetry collections a year and we're open for submissions...! www.ditheringchaps.com/submissions
Dithering Chaps has an announcement!
And the winner (from our latest submissions window) is...
Christopher James - with his stunning collection of sonnet-length testimonies to each crew member of Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
Coming from Dithering Chaps this November!
And the winner (from our latest submissions window) is...
Christopher James - with his stunning collection of sonnet-length testimonies to each crew member of Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
Coming from Dithering Chaps this November!
May 27, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Dithering Chaps has an announcement!
And the winner (from our latest submissions window) is...
Christopher James - with his stunning collection of sonnet-length testimonies to each crew member of Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
Coming from Dithering Chaps this November!
And the winner (from our latest submissions window) is...
Christopher James - with his stunning collection of sonnet-length testimonies to each crew member of Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
Coming from Dithering Chaps this November!
Coming soon from Dithering Chaps - a not-to-be-missed début collection from Nicole Durman - 'Ghosts of Nightshifts Past'. Pre-order your copy today... www.ditheringchaps.com/ghosts-of-ni...
May 23, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Coming soon from Dithering Chaps - a not-to-be-missed début collection from Nicole Durman - 'Ghosts of Nightshifts Past'. Pre-order your copy today... www.ditheringchaps.com/ghosts-of-ni...
Dithering Chaps is excited about our next book launch: Nicole Durman's 'Ghosts of Nightshifts Past'. It's at Brendon Books in Taunton, UK on July 24th. If you can't come along, why not pre-order your copy today...? www.ditheringchaps.com/ghosts-of-ni...
May 21, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Dithering Chaps is excited about our next book launch: Nicole Durman's 'Ghosts of Nightshifts Past'. It's at Brendon Books in Taunton, UK on July 24th. If you can't come along, why not pre-order your copy today...? www.ditheringchaps.com/ghosts-of-ni...