Guy Mankowski


Guy Mankowski is an English writer.

Early life

He was educated at St John's College, Portsmouth and Ampleforth College. On The Neo Historian podcast Mankowski discussed his Catholic upbringing and faith. 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. Mankowski was the lead singer of the band Alba Nova.

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.' He was awarded by Newcastle University’s Newcastle Centre for Literary Arts a Flow Engineering Writing commission.
Mankowski's 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 ‘given the rare privilege of behind-the-scenes access to observe the work of the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet’ in Saint 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. His academic research applied the theory of Self-fashioning to the punk movement, re-appropriating it as 'self-design'. The genesis of the book was discussed in a TV interview on the North East Arts and Culture Show. Of the novel, The Huffington Post stated: 'Mankowski captures brilliantly the psychology of fan obsession.' 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 2015 he also edited the memoir of banking whistle-blower Paul Moore, whose evidence about corruption at HBOS bank was presented to the UK House of Commons Treasury Select Committee. An Honest Deceit was a New Writing North Read Regional 2018 title, which lead to a tour of English libraries. The book was re-released on Audible. He ran New Art Social, ‘a night that has grew from hosting upcoming poets and writers to adding in musical performances and panel discussions with some incredible creatives and minds'.
"Dead Rock Stars" concerns the wild summer of a teenage boy struggling to get over the death of his sister, a rising star on the nineties Riot Grrrl scene. Ruth Dugdall said it was 'a mesmerising study of grief as well as a coming of age novel.' The Scottish novelist Andrew Crumey said the novel 'powerfully voices the concerns of a generation.' Louder Than War called it 'highly enjoyable fiction that uses alternative pop music as guiding light.'
Mankowski is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Lincoln. For 'Albion's Secret History: Snapshots of England's Pop Rebels and Outsiders', Kate Jackson from The Long Blondes gave an unreleased photo for the front cover of the book' and was interviewed as part of its release in a promotional series that included Gary Numan. PopMatters wrote 'this book is about celebrating the unsung.' Midwest Book Review called it 'an inherently fascinating, iconoclastic, and informative read from cover to cover... "Albion's Secret History" is an original work of impressive research.' Mankowski has interviewed artists such as Will Self, Miki Berenyi of Lush, Gazelle Twin and Jehnny Beth. Mankowski did a TED talk on his opening of the unseen archive of Kristen Pfaff of Hole. Mankowski told No Treble magazine, 'Jason Pfaff offered to share with me his sister’s unopened archive.' A Substack of his Kristen Pfaff biography was published for subscribers in 2024. John Robb said of it, ‘This book ultimately places Kristen back in the deserved centre of the narrative.’ Excerpts were published by 3:AM Magazine and No Treble magazine, who called it ‘long awaited'. In August 2025 the second volume of it was released. He told The Neo Historian podcast his next novel is informed by experiences during this project, and provisionally entitled ‘On Top Of The Hill, With The Stars’.

Publications

Novels

  • The Intimates March 2011.
  • Letters from Yelena October 2012.
  • How I Left The National Grid February 2015.
  • An Honest Deceit October 2016, 2nd Ed., 2018.
  • "Dead Rock Stars" September 2020.
  • You Complete The Masterpiece November 2024.

    Biographies

  • 'I Know How To Live': The Life of Kristen Pfaff December 2024.

    Non fiction

  • Albion's Secret History March 2021.

    Audiobooks

  • An Honest Deceit via Audible, narrated by Chris Reilly, March 2017.

    Speaking engagements

In 2022 Mankowski gave a TEDx talk entitled "."

Anthologies

  • A Body of Strangers in Eight Rooms: Short Story Reinvented , November 2009.
  • The Willows in Ten Journeys , April 2010.
  • Queens of the Guestlist in Radgepacket- Tales From The Inner Cities Volume 4 , March 2010.
  • Roses For Edie in Melodramatic Mayhem and Many Murderous Mishaps , October 2019.
  • The Ghosts Of Her Dead Husband's Fiction in 'Uncommonalities Volume II: Bad Enough' , September 2020.
  • Cutting in 'Uncommonalities Volume IV: Eventually' , April, 2023.

    Short stories

  • The Dagenham Dolls.
  • The Insiders Party.
  • A Girl Named Grape.

    PhD

  • ,

    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.
  • Be Pure, Be Vigilant, Behave'. What Did Post Punk Manifestos Aim To Achieve? in Postgraduate Voices in Punk Studies: Your Wisdom, Our Youth, Cambridge Scholars Publishing,, 2017.
  • A Series of Images / Against You And Me'- Richey Edwards' Portrayal Of The Body in 'Journal For Plague Lovers in Punk & Post Punk, Intellect Books, Vol. 10.1,, 2020.

    Editing

  • Crash, Bank, Wallop: The Story Of The HBOS Whistleblower by Paul Moore , November 2015.

    Music

  • The Beautiful Way To Fall by Alba Nova, 2007.