Guy Mankowski

Guy Mankowski (born 6 January 1983) is an English writer. He was educated at St John's College, Portsmouth and Ampleforth College. He read Applied Psychology at Durham University and gained a Masters in Psychology at Newcastle University. He then trained as a psychologist at The Royal Hospital in London . He was singer in a band called Alba Nova, where he was described as having 'vocals similar to Billy Corgan.'

Career

His first novel, The Intimates, was a Recommended Title for New Writing North’s 2011 Read Regional Campaign. It was described by author Abigail Tarttelin as a 'measured, literary piece of work as hauntingly evocative of its setting and characters as Marilynne Robinson's Pulitzer Prize winner Housekeeping'. Culture Magazine were more critical, and called it 'unusually stylised for contemporary fiction'.

Mankowski's 'breakthrough' second novel, Letters from Yelena, was described by New Books Magazine as having "shades of The Red Shoes and The Black Swan."

The novel was given Arts Council funding, allowing Mankowski to be one of a few English people granted access to the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in St. Petersburg for research purposes. The choreographer Dora Frankel created a dance based on the book. An excerpt of the novel was used as GCSE training material by Osiris Educational. His third novel, How I Left The National Grid, was written as part of his PhD. Whilst researching for it, Mankowski interviewed musicians such as Jehnny Beth from post-punk band Savages. In coverage of the book, it was speculated that the novel he was researching was inspired by missing Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey Edwards. Of the novel, The Huffington Post said, 'Mankowski captures brilliantly the psychology of 'fan obsession'. Those of us who marvelled at The Secret History or A Passage to India are sure to find it equally enthralling'. The Glasgow Review Of Books described it as a novel 'about the pitfalls of externally defined identity' . Louder Than War said 'this intriguing novel is more about the pop fan’s urge to remember'. The novelist Andrew Crumey commented 'Already recognised as a major rising talent, Mankowski here establishes himself as a significant voice in British fiction'. In the 2015 textbook ‘Creative Writing: A NAWE Handbook For Teachers’ a chapter on The Writing Journal describes how Mankowski used notebooks to develop the background of the novel.

Mankowski’s fourth novel, 'An Honest Deceit', was published in October 2016 and re-released on Audible in August 2017, when the book was confirmed as having topped Amazon bestseller lists. Narc Magazine called it 'a gripping contemporary thriller centring around the death of the protagonists beloved young daughter', adding 'Mankowski’s training as a psychologist helps to draw out a taut storyline, full of razor sharp prose and trickery around every corner.’ The Huffington Post called it "a book of outstanding quality." It was a New Writing North Read Regional 2018 title, which lead to a tour of English libraries.

He currently teaches Creative Writing for Penguin Random House and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Authority. He also hosts "New Art Social," a monthly Creative Writing night in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Publications

Novels

• The Intimates (Legend Press) ISBN 978-1-907756-46-7 Search this book on . March 2011.
• Letters from Yelena (Legend Press) ISBN 978-1-909039-10-0 Search this book on . October 2012.
• How I Left The National Grid (Roundfire) ISBN 178279896X Search this book on . February 2015.
• An Honest Deceit (Urbane) ISBN 978-1911129974 Search this book on . October 2016.

Anthologies

• A Body of Strangers in Eight Rooms (Legend Press, 2009).
• The Willows in Ten Journeys (Legend Press, 2010).
• Queens of the Guestlist in Radgepacket- Tales From The Inner Cities Volume 4 (Byker Books, 2011).

Short stories

• The Dagenham Dolls (Structo, 2009).
• The Insiders Party (Litro, 2009).
• A Girl Named Grape (The View From Here, 2010).

Academic articles

• I Can't Seem To Stay A Fixed Ideal': Self-design and self-harm in subcultures in Punk & Post Punk, Intellect Books, Vol. 2.3, February 2014.
• Pop manifestos and nosebleed art rock: What have post-punk bands achieved? in Punk & Post Punk, Intellect Books, Vol. 3.2, October 2014.

Editing

• Crash, Bank, Wallop: The Story Of The HBOS Whistleblower by Paul Moore (New Wilberforce Media, 2015).

References

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