Local writer Tom Sykes presented his new book about our deteriorating seaside communities at Southsea Library. Peter Gruner reports.
Coast of Teeth: Travels to English Seaside Towns in an Age of Anxiety, with drawings by illustrator Louis Netter, has received plaudits from, among others, author Will Self and comic Arthur Smith.
Sykes, Associate Professor of Creative Writing and Global Journalism at the University of Portsmouth, took up the issue after being fed up with plastic and sewage pollution near where he lives in the city.
He talked about his book but also praised the work and reputation of Southsea Library, which provides a range of community services and incorporates a popular café.
He said, ‘The great thing about Southsea Library, and I’m sure it’s similar with many others, is that they are not just about lending books anymore. There’s also a whole gamut of services provided for a range of people from the very young to the elderly.’
Sykes’s book has struck a nerve with many interested in seaside towns including obviously those living locally.
Sykes and Netter took what they described as a ‘wild tour’ of 21 English coastal communities including Bournemouth, Scarborough, Blackpool, Clacton, Weston-Super-Mare, and Portsmouth, Southsea and Gosport. Not surprisingly they discovered that many towns had been ‘pummelled by poverty’ and underinvestment, partly, he believes, by the effects Brexit, Covid and climate crisis.
He warns that many seaside economies are now in tatters. ‘There’s sewage dumping and flooding making parts of the Solent not always safe for swimming. On top of that there’s damage done by plastic pollution that’s killing off wildlife and turning beauty spots into eyesores.’
Southsea Library provides activities for everyone. Along with IT services the library has Rhyme Time for babies and toddlers which involves a lot of singing. They often have up to 25 babies and children. Eight and nine year-olds can be taught basics of computers. They also run Story Time for young children. They have sewing groups and games like Scrabble for grown ups.
Photograph by Jennie Gruner.
