‘Listen to the sound of the waves within you’ ~ Rumi

Welcome… we are lovers of the sea, the surf and the beach huts. The ice cream, the seagulls, the sandcastles, the seaweed. We are all about nature, it’s power and its inspiration… we are words that hug the waves, then explode on a high tide. We want the hidden (under rocks), the flotsam, the jetsam. We want you… to be inspired by coastal surroundings. Breathe life into words. And, if it helps you along the way, to heal, to empower, we will do our very best to applaud you, your writing, your love, your healing, through poetry, flash fiction or the odd short story. We are based in the south west of the U.K., a truly inspiring place for writing. We hope our enthusiasm rubs off on you … no matter where in the world you are.

We do not claim to be able to showcase upon a sandy beach, neither can we pay for such submissional delights, however, we are hoping in the near future to hold competitions that will have a small monetary reward for the winners. Watch this space!

We hope you will enjoy writing at the beach hut.

Testimonials

‘I had the honour of being the first poet published on this new and exciting writing space and I have read every poem published since then. I love the coastal themed work and the carefully chosen artwork that accompanies the writing. A beautiful and positive place to spend some time every day’ ~ Eileen Carney Hulme

‘To have my work published with The Beach Hut was as exciting as it was about sixty years ago to be taken to the seaside unexpectedly, being bought a two flake 99 and discovering rock pools full of wonderful new friends all rolled into one’ ~ Bernard Pearson

Our inaugural Coastal Writing for Wellness Competition results will be announced on Thursday 7th May. Judged by Deborah Harvey. Thank you ALL for your amazing support and entries.

First Prize ~ Ghazal: The Sea ~ Rachael Matthews

Second Prize ~ I want to tell you about the birds ~ Eleanor Westwood

Commended ~ Holiday Lets ~ Sarah James

Commended ~ Fear of Falling ~ Marion Ashton

Message from our judge

It was a privilege to be asked to judge the inaugural Beach Hut poetry and flash fiction competition, and, given the quality of the entries, a very difficult task to whittle them down to first and second place, with a couple of commended. I’d like to thank everyone who entered for the much-needed distraction their writing provided.

That said, the conditions we are currently living under inevitably infused the poems with meanings that might not have been the poet’s intention, or indeed prevalent, at the time that they were written – but then that’s the joy of poetry, that there’s enough space in a good poem for it to adapt to circumstances, and to allow the reader to bring their own experiences to it.

The flash fiction was without exception interesting to read, although I didn’t think any of it quite matched the quality of the top four poems. These were extremely difficult to place in winning order. All had their strengths and surprises. All are still living in my head as I write this. I’d like to warmly congratulate all four poets.

Congratulations, too, to Tina, for the beauty that is the Beach Hut. We have all needed a place to escape to this year, and this platform, with its consistently good writing and stunning photography, has helped ease the pain many of us feel at this time of limited movement. I wish the Beach Hut and its competition all the best for the future.

Deborah Harvey

SUBMISSIONS ARE CLOSED & WILL UNFORTUNATELY NOT REOPEN FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE.

PLEASE NOTE – Emails are not currently being monitored.

We welcome submissions of poetry, flash fiction and the occasional short story that specifically, and also loosely, follows a coastal theme. Use your imagination! We enjoy pieces that are contemporary and that may have been hiding under rocks for fear of being discovered. We particularly celebrate writing that has healed, or been part of a journey. That has been a cathartic process and is to be celebrated as such.
Please email your poetry (up to 45 lines) flash fiction (up to 500 words) and the occasional short story (up to 1,500), in one Word document, titles excluded. Accompanied by a short (up to 50 words) third person bio. We would prefer unpublished pieces, it’s always nice to be able to publish a new great piece, but, pieces that have already been published, will be considered. Please state where published when submitting.
Copyright remains with the author at all times, but we appreciate the celebration of your first publication should you go on to have the piece published elsewhere.
We will not enter into discussions about rejection of pieces, and whilst we appreciate that this can be disheartening (yes, we have been there), please do not take the rejection personally, for it is not intended to be so. We will wish you good luck elsewhere. Never give up, and remember, this is not a competition.
We are sorry but we can not pay for any submissions accepted.
We aim to reply within two weeks of submission date (although please do not hold us to this) and rest assured, every submission will be read. Acceptance, as perviously stated, is not on merit of previous publications or awesomeness, but on pieces that we feel reflect what we are aiming to showcase her at The Beach Hut.
Please submit your pieces (no more than three, which can be a mix of poetry and fiction) to; thebeachhut7@gmail.com We will post here when submissions are closed.
Please do not resubmit for a further two months, regardless of acceptance or rejection.
Please read all of the above carefully.
We are crazy, coastal loving, word consuming, volunteers; we don’t get paid for this. Please be respectful.
We actively encourage writing as a wellbeing tool. To heal and to use nature as your inspiration and we wish you well on your journey.

How we store and use your contact details/information that you have supplied.

By submitting to The Beach Hut, you are sharing with us your personal information, that you supply, solely for us to; consider your submission and contact you with a response.

Sometimes, we may may contact you with information we believe to be of interest to you; mainly information about competitions or future/current submissions. This will be done by the email that you initially contacted us by. We will never contact you by phone, unless you have provided us with a contact number, and unless it is for a specific reason; for example: Competition results. If you do not wish to receive any further notifications, please advise in your initial email.

We will never share your information that you have given us with a third party. All information is stored securely and is only accessed (via a password) for means of publishing or contacting you, as per submission/Competition guidelines.

You can withdraw your consent at any time to the above by a written statement (email is sufficient) stating as such to; thebeachhut7@gmail.com

If you have any queries relating to the above, please contact us via email ~ thebeachhut7@gmail.com