Who are the super heroes of the literary world? We think it’s the people behind the readings, magazines, publishers and websites who work long hours for little or no money and often small recognition. We’d like to introduce them to you and celebrate their vision and commitment to literature.

Maggie Sawkins runs Tongues & Grooves Poetry and Music Club in Portsmouth. She teaches students with specific learning difficulties at South Downs College. Her first full collection, The Zig Zag Woman is published by Two Ravens Press.
www.tongues-and-grooves.org.uk
www.tworavenspress.com
http://maggiesawkins.moonfruit.com


Who are you?
I’m the main organiser and host of Tongues & Grooves Poetry and Music Club.

Where are you based?
The Florence Arms, Florence Road in Southsea (just over the water from the Isle of Wight). Our office is in the spare bedroom and in my head.

How are you funded?
We received an Arts Council grant in 2005 to fund a concert at Portsmouth’s New Theatre Royal, run a series of workshops and pay featured poets and musicians. That’s all gone now so we rely on goodwill, door money and the famous T & G raffles. For the past year we’ve been putting together another grant application, but fear of rejection is delaying the final touches.

How, why and when did it start/you get involved?
It began with a launch at The Florence of my Flarestack collection, Charcot’s Pet in 2003. The pub landlord was so impressed that he asked if I’d like to run a monthly event. I was reluctant at first as it seemed daunting, but when a friend, Bernard MacDonagh, offered to help with the music side a few months later, I decided to go ahead. We modelled ourselves on Tongues & Strings, a University based group in Chichester – we differ in that we don’t encourage readings of short stories.

When do you do it and how much time does it take up?
I’m ‘at it’ in some way or another much of the time. Ed (my husband) took early retirement a couple of years ago and has taken over some of the admin (emailing list, publicity, flyers). It star questions with allows me to concentrate on booking poets and musicians and developing new ideas.

What do you get out of it?
It’s fun. Each event is a challenge and I’m continually surprised. I’m told I’m good at hosting and it’s definitely helped me to develop as a reader of my own work. I think we’ve helped to raise Portsmouth’s cultural profile and given local people a chance to get involved.

How do you see it developing?
I’d like to see more people becoming actively involved in projects. This is beginning to happen with a fundraising concert planned for October in conjunction with Portsmouth MIND. Plans are underway to set up our own ‘Wild Mouse Press’. Our first publication will be an anthology of poems about Portsmouth. I’m encouraging others to get involved in hosting themed evenings.

What are you reading at the moment?
All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy: ‘Dark and cold and no wind and a thin gray reef beginning along the eastern rim of the world.’ Exquisite.

What’s the most extraordinary thing that’s happened?
Answering the phone by the bedside at four in the morning. A voice said, ‘Sorry for disturbing you but this is God.’ As I replaced the receiver and Ed asked who it was. I said, ‘God,’ and we went back to sleep. It turned out to be one of the poets who had read at T & G the night before.

What do you wish you’d known when you started?
Nothing really. I’ve enjoyed the unexpected.

Who would you like to see interviewed here?
Charles Johnson, the editor of Flarestack Publishing and Obsessed with Pipework, for championing ‘poetry with strangeness and charm’. He’s wonderfully modest, an excellent poet and works from a tiny room in his house in Pilton, Glastonbury.