GUY MANKOWSKI

I was very fortunate to be awarded a grant by the Arts Council to research my second novel, Letters From Yelena, for a week in St Petersburg. The book will chart the life of a Russian ballerina, and the trip gave me the chance to find out what this would have entailed... Day 1- St Petersburg is bewildering, overpowering, and grandly beautiful. I lug my suitcase down the great Nevksy Prospekt, and struggle to make out signs depicted in letters I’ve previously only seen on confectionary. My hotel is situated in between the prestigious ballet academy the Vaganova, and the famous Mariinsky Theatre. As the city darkens I go to visit the Isaac Cathedral. It’s surrounded by neo-gothic statues, with young couples kissing in amongst all its dark corners. Day 2- In the morning I visit the Nabokov museum. A quote by the writer on one of the video installations seems particularly relevant to my situation. ‘Reality’ he says ‘is perpetually eluding. A plant has a deeper reality for a botanist ...

As I move beyond the age where going to nightclubs remains comfortable, I find myself enjoying dinner parties more and more. I’m not talking about the Come Dine With Me style bitterness fests which we often see on TV, but instead those rare evenings when mutual disclosure is permissible and perhaps even nourishing. I apologize for writing about an arguably pretentious black and white French film, but I recently caught the wonderful ‘My Night With Maud’ for the first time. The film captures an intimate night in which a strongly Catholic man is introduced to a divorcee, the beguiling Maud. Over the course of the night they discuss fate, mortality, and philosophy, and when snow prevents him returning home the two of them have to spend the night together. As an engaged Catholic the man has to resist the charms of the alluring Maud, and question whether his wife-to-be, a younger and more innocent women, is really right for him. In so doing the two c...

This week I was very fortunate to be awarded by the Arts Council a grant towards the research and development of my second novel 'Letters From Yelena'. The book in progress contains the letters sent by a brilliant ballerina to ‘Noah’ – a writer who first gave her faith in people after the darkness of her childhood. By chronicling her journey first as an immigrant, then as a rising ballerina, the letters will chart how seemingly insurmountable obstacles can be overcome through the connections people make. I'm grateful that the award will allow me to spend much more of my time writing, as well as taking me to St Petersburg in Russia in a few weeks time. Whilst there I hope to visit the prestigious Vaganova Academy and world famous Mariinsky Theatre - places where my lead character learnt to dance. I'm also attending a performance of the famous ballet-blanc 'Giselle' at The Mariinsky Theatre. St Petersburg is a city I have been longing to visit for a while and ...

I often feel like a bit of a fraud when people ask me who my favourite writers are. They seem to be a small, insular crowd which people don’t particularly associate with literary prowess. It seems slightly disingenuous to say that my greatest influences have been records. I’m always attracted to works in which the listener can be drawn in by three or four rich threads. For instance, in Siri Hustvedt’s wonderful novel What I Loved, I found myself enraptured by four or five circling themes that rose recurrently like distant riffs. The idea of faded romance, the way art reveals the psyche of its creator, the vertigo in trying to reign in someone who always remains unknowable, even to themselves. Giving the audience that room is something that in my own writing I’m always trying to achieve. Paul Auster has written eloquently about how he intends his books to ultimately give the reader room to find themselves in. It is perhaps just something I have just found it easier to do with recor...

Feel honoured to have a very considered review from the fabulous literary magazine The View From Here this month - ‘Mankowski’s ability to construct and develop his characters is formidable and the execution of this skill adds to the compelling nature of the book. The reader is taken on a journey through a vast array of intensive and moving experiences. Fascinating and compelling, ‘The Intimates’ is a deep and challenging book…definitely worth a read’. To see the whole review... http://www.viewfromheremagazine.com/2011/08/intimates-review.html

'The Intimates' has been kindly featured in Rookie Magazine's monthly Entertainment Chart along with Tracey Emin, The Saturdays and the final installment of the Harry Potter saga, where it's described it as 'a fascinating debut' 'a glamorous read' and 'the modern great Gatsby'. You can check out the fashion, culture and lifestyle magazine online at- http://www.rookiemagazine.com/ The Intimates. Guy Mankowski

Some Upcoming Events For The Summer - Reading from 'The Intimates' at Hartlepool Central Library, Wednesday 6th July from 6.30pm http://www.hartlepool.gov.uk/events/event/1450/ Reading at the launch for Trashed Organ Zine ('A collective of gutter poets, musicians and artists') at The Bridge Hotel, Newcastle on July 13th at 7.30pm http://www.trashedorgan.co.uk/ And reading at Heaton Arts Festival's 'Just Say The Lines' ('A suave evening of sophistication and glamour, with spoken word, martini’s and decadence all on the menu') at The Chillingham Arms, Newcastle, August 11th at 7.30pm http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=236356066382504

This week I had the pleasure of observing the work of one of the North East’s most sought after choreographers, Dora Frankel, while she rehearsed sequences for her next show ‘One Small Step, One More Step’. Having made her acquaintance a few weeks ago, and having mentioned that I was undertaking research into the world of dance for my next novel, Dora agreed firstly to be interviewed by me, and secondly to allow me to sit in while she developed her next work in progress. ‘One Small Step’ will see daylight as part of 'Bridging The Gap', an evening of performances, music and events. It is a site specific performance that will take place on and around The Apollo Pavilion in Peterlee, a concrete pavilion which is the work of the artist Victor Pasmore. The show promises to be a striking synthesis of visual art, dance and sound with the composer Peter Coyte supplying a varied, visceral soundtrack for it. Although my novel is set ostensibly in the world of ballet, I was particular...

Writing can be a rather solitary venture; it’s not a pursuit usually requiring the company of off-duty ballerinas, eager to break into dizzying dance sequences at a moments notice. Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a Writing and Dance Workshop at Dance City, a location which has always intrigued me, due to its rather evocative air of artistic permissiveness. I did this out of a combination of intrigue and duty. I’ve just started researching my second novel, Letters From Yelena, which is set in the world of ballet. I was keen to move my research beyond struggling to decipher Russian ballet websites and into the real world. The workshop was organised by the award winning Write Around The Toon, which is Project Managed by the author Viccy Adams. The workshop was ran by Alex Lockwood, a lecturer at Sunderland University. Until yesterday I had steered clear of writing workshops due to a rather precious fear I had about reflecting on the writing process, which I've ...

I read a very interesting blog by fellow Legend Press author Ruth Dugdall the other day, who mentioned that prior to the release of her first novel she wished she had taken the time, just before the novel was released, to ask herself what exactly it was that she expected from her book when it was eventually published. A couple of local book signings, a mention in the local gazette? While I was writing The Intimates for the first time in my life I kept a journal, most of which is filled with vague romantic preoccupations and reflections on the copious numbers of gigs I was attending at that point in my life. But flicking through it last night I noticed one or two mentions to the book that would eventually become The Intimates (known as The Fountains at the time, until my editor Lauren wisely instructed me that that sounded like a Barbara Cartland novel). Reading them I was struck by the rather humble ambitions I originally had for it. For it to be ‘a decent impression of a thoughtfu...

One refrain that I often hear from people is that they ‘would love to write, but can never find the time’. Though I’m sympathetic to this statement – because for the best part of a decade I’d wondered when the novel twisting inside me would come out- I also find this question rather frustrating. As I’ve since learnt that the time to write your novel will never come. It will just have to be carved out, rather bloodily, from the series of bewildering compromises that modern life has now become. To find the time to write my novel last summer, I simply had to quit my job. I had no money, and was pretty sure no magical grants were on their way. It was a terrifying but exciting prospect, having two months ahead of me with a growing overdraft and with nothing to do but write. But it had become clear that the book, which would eventually become The Intimates, was going to haunt me until I eventually acquiesced. It had been bothering me ever since I had first thought of the concept for it on...

Starting to gear up now for the final stretch before my first novel is released, and experiencing a real mixture of feelings, some excitement but a huge amount of anxiety and real fear too. I'm starting to do my first interviews for it now, including prerecording one for BBC Newcastle on Jonathan Miles' Midmorning Show tomorrow. It's been a long time coming, and will feel strange when the date finally comes. I've been fortunate enough to be offered the use of Morden Tower, Newcastle for the launch party of the book on Thursday 25th March. It's a great venue which has seen readings from the likes of Seamus Heaney and Allen Ginsberg between its walls. In fitting with the theme of the novel my publishers have decided on the optional theme of 'decadence' for the night, which should mean the photos are slightly different from when Mr Ginsberg made an appearance... Am also appearing the day after with Matthew Crow, Andy Kirby and Legend Press MD Tom Chalme...