Guy Mankowski

Guy Mankowski (born 6 January 1983) is a writer based in Newcastle upon Tyne. He was educated at Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire.^[1] He read Applied Psychology at Durham University.^[2] He then trained as a psychologist at The Royal Hospital in London.^[3]

Career

His first novel, ‘The Intimates’, was a Recommended Title for New Writing North’s 2011 Read Regional Campaign.^[3] 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’.^[4] Culture Magazine were more critical, calling it ‘unusually stylised for contemporary fiction’.^[4][5][6] Mankowski’s ‘breakthrough’ second novel,^[7]‘Letters From Yelena’, was ‘about the lost art of letter writing’, and followed the letters sent by a psychologically damaged ballerina to her lover, Noah.^[8] New Books Magazine described it as having ‘shades of The Red Shoes and The Black Swan, with its dark thematic intensity of child abuse leading the main protagonist Yelena into self-harming, and ultimately suffering mental health problems’.^[9]

The novel was given Arts Council funding, allowing Mankowski to undertake research for it in St Petersburg, Russia.^[8] Mankowski was one of a few English people to be given access to the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet for research purposes.^[4][10] The choreographer Dora Frankel created a dance based on a pivotal scene from the book.^[8] An excerpt of the book was used as GCSE training material by Osiris Educational.^[7][11] His third novel, ‘How I Left The National Grid’, was written as part of a PhD in Creative Writing at Northumbria University.^[12] Whilst researching for it, Mankowski wrote journalism about various musicians, such as Savages (band),^[13] and Helen Marnie.^[14] Writing for Pop Matters, Mankowski critiqued Gazelle Twin’s album Unflesh, describing it as ‘lyrically a "post-Kid A" album, an extended critique of post-modern living’.^[15][16] It has been speculated that the novel he was researching was inspired by missing Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey Edwards.^[17][18] Narc Magazine noted that the books main character was ‘possibly based on Kingsley Chapman’ of The Chapman Family.^[7] In an interview with Chapman^[18] Mankowski discussed how the book was inspired by the post-punk music scene and how its musicians responded positively to the challenges of austerity. Narc Magazine called the novel a ‘taut and psychological look at the life and times of a man thrust into the limelight, whether he enjoys the fame or not.’^[7] Of the novel, Matthew Phillips for 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'.^[17] The novelist Andrew Crumey commented 'Already recognised as a major rising talent, Mankowski here establishes himself as a significant voice in British fiction'.^[19][20][21]

Publications

• The Intimates (Legend Press) ISBN 1907756469-26 March 2011.
• Letters from Yelena (Legend Press) ISBN 1909039101-20 October 2012.
• How I Left The National Grid (Roundfire) ISBN 178279896X-February 2015.

References