This paper investigates under what conditions the steady state shape of a coastal latent heat polynya is influenced by (1) the direction of flow or free-drifting frazil ice and the consolidated offshore ice sheet and (2) coastline orientation. Analytical solutions are obtained for coastal polynyas when the coastline is straight and when a coastline has a single step. From the solutions it is shown that the asymptotic polynya width is given by the generalized Pease (1987) width, Lcos&thgr;, where L is the ''classical Pease width'' and &thgr; is the angle between the consolidated ice sheet velocity and the normal to the coastline. An expression is also obtained for the alongshore length scale LC, over which the polynya adjusts toward its asymptotic width, and it is shown that LC depends upon the directions of travel of the frazil ice and the consolidated ice sheet. When the frazil ice and the consolidated ice sheet both drift offshore, normal to the coast, LC=0, in agreement with the classical Pease theory. Variations in the coastline which occur on a length scale much smaller than LC are not reproduced in the polynya shape. Two numerical simulations are presented for Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica, and the St. Lawrence Island Polynya in the Bering Sea. Both examples employ realistic coastline geometry and information about the direction of drift of the consolidated ice sheet. In each example a realistic polynya shape is obtained. The examples highlight the versatility of the model because in the former case the ice sheet drifts almost parallel to the coast, while in the latter it drifts offshore. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1995