Young People's Creative Writing Anthology

Emma Chaplin
, 03 April 2023
Young People's Creative Writing Anthology
Upturned Shoveler © Barry Yates

Emma Chaplin, Water Anthology Editor

Thanks to everyone who contributed entries for our Water-themed creative writing anthology. We were delighted to get so many, and particularly, this year, from young people. As a consequence, we've decided to have two online anthologies. The adult anthology will be launched shortly, plus we have created this one, from the entries we received from young people (under 18 years old). 

We are pleased to have created this anthology in conjunction with the Wild Coast Sussex project.

View Anthology here

We decided not to amend any spellings or grammar, because we like these entries just the way they are.

Thanks again to everyone who put so much thought into our Watery theme and sent in their work. 

From Ella Garrud, Wild Coast Sussex Communities and Wildlife Officer:

This year’s water-themed creative writing anthology is in partnership with our Wild Coast Sussex project - the first time we’ve had a Young Person’s anthology, and we’re thrilled that it’s water themed!

The Wild Coast Sussex project aims to inspire Sussex communities to care for the marine environment and enable them to protect their local coast and sea. We are working specifically with young people, from Primary School children, through to 16 – 25 year olds. Learn more about the project here: 

It’s fantastic that so many young people are interested in water in nature and have submitted these wonderful pieces of creative writing. We have absolutely loved reading these vivid, imaginative poems. Thank you to everyone who spent the time to write something and send it in.

List of Anthology Contributors:

  • Harriet Caine
  • Maisie Coakes
  • Agnes Fellows
  • Poppy Lee
  • Tallulah Lee
  • Jack Middleton
  • Matilda Nathoo
  • Lee Potter-Blake
  • Ella Richardson
  • Lola Roiser
  • Clea Sallaba
  • Katya Sims
  • EthanTaites
  • Oliver Trainor
  • Ottilie Wakeford
  • Eleanor Williams
  • Jess Windram 
Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1782917736.09290 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1782917736.12030.0274Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1782917736.12040.0001Server address: 216.73.217.103
1782917736.12050Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1782917736.12050Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/young-peoples-creative-writing-anthology
    [s] => young-peoples-creative-writing-anthology
    [1] => young-peoples-creative-writing-anthology
)
1782917736.12080.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782917736.12170.0009 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1782917736.12830.0066 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1782917736.1290.0007INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1782917736.1310.002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22486864
1782917736.13170.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22486864
1782917736.13230.0006 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-01 14:55:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-01 14:55:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1782917736.13350.0012 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='young-peoples-creative-writing-anthology')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-01 14:55:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1782917736.1360.0025 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782917736.13670.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=3036 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-01 14:55:00'
1782917736.13760.0009 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1782917736.13830.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1782917736.1390.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=195 LIMIT 1
1782917736.13950.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=44 LIMIT 1
1782917736.140.0004 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=242 LIMIT 1
1782917736.14050.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782917736.14080.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1782917736.14160.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-01 14:55:00' AND postSlug='young-peoples-creative-writing-anthology'
1782917736.16230.0207Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782917736.1630.0007 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1782917736.16470.0017Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1782917736.16490.0002 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1782917736.16570.0008 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1782917736.1670.0013 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782917736.17050.0035 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782917736.1710.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782917736.17450.0035Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1782917736.17460 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782917736.17520.0007 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782917736.17560.0004 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782917736.17820.0026 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782917736.17920.001 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782917736.17970.0005 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782917736.18140.0017 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782917736.18250.0012 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1782917736.18540.0028 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1782917736.18590.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782917736.18610.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='20' LIMIT 1
1782917736.19070.0045Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1782917736.19120.0005 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='young-peoples-creative-writing-anthology')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-01 14:55:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1782917736.19370.0025 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782917736.19420.0005 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782917736.19720.003Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1782917736.19810.0009 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=3036 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1782917736.25960.0614 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1782917736.25970.0002Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782917736.260.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='20' LIMIT 1
1782917736.26060.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1782917736.26110.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1782917736.26160.0005 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782917736.26370.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782917736.26420.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782917736.2660.0019 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782917736.26680.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782917736.27040.0036 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782917736.2710.0006 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782917736.27320.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782917736.27350.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782917736.27530.0018 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782917736.27860.0033 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1782917736.27910.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1782917736.27950.0004 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782917736.28150.002 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782917736.28190.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782917736.28380.0019 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782917736.28610.0023 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782917736.28670.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782917736.28710.0005 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782917736.2890.0019 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782917736.28940.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782917736.29130.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782917736.29230.0011Request time: 0.203
1782917736.29230Process time: 0.2028
1782917736.29230Memory: 1.6241