GUY MANKOWSKI

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...

Abigail Tarttelin, star of 'Schrodinger's Girl', 'Taxi Rider' and author of the forthcoming 'Flick' has written a review of my debut novel 'The Intimates' - "An intricately wrought and enchanting first novel, The Intimates is a measured, literary piece of work as hauntingly evocative of its setting and characters as Marilynne Robinson’s Pulitzer prize winner Housekeeping. Mankowski acutely and dexterously peels back the layers of his flaw-ridden characters to reveal complexities of desire and influence that whir the cogs within us all. The setting is sublime, an atmospheric country home with a deceased ex-proprietor, a secret passageway and wild, untamed grounds; the story playing out on the evening of a party thrown, at first glance, in celebration of their host’s first published novel. But in some way each of the group is broken, and new author Francoise, who effervesces like a twisted Juliette Binoche seductively from Mankowski’s pages, in...

For me, Anna Calvi is the first performer in a long time to have an onstage persona so distanced from her natural self as to be almost unrecognisable. In interviews she’s quiet, thoughtful, always hiding behind a thick mane of blonde curls. Onstage she’s ferocious, snarling, and seemingly on a revenge mission that no number of flamenco scorched blues numbers will absolve. She reminds me of this lady – I first fell for her work, after watching a performance of her on the French TV channel Arete. Where bands like Arcade Fire portray the current state of affairs, performers like Anna Calvi offer a means of escape to somewhere more glamorous, which in grim times seems very important. She’s currently fuelling late night writing binges as I try to start my second book. In an age of reality tv ‘stars’ and whitewash landfill indie Anna Calvi is certainly worth cherishing.

‘A huge accomplishment. With expert prose Mankowski draws the reader into a world where layers of secrets are slowly and skilfully stripped away. Lyrical and yet accessible, with character dynamics to die for…’ Gary Murning, author of ‘If I Never’ ‘Guy Mankowski's debut novel, The Intimates, manages that all too rare feat of being a deeply psychological character study whilst at the same time playing out as a bonafide page-turner. Excellently paced, insightfully created, and with moments of genuine genius, The Intimates is an opulently written, high concept piece which explores the psychology of human relationships, and especially the dynamics of groups. Here we meet characters of genuine depth. Through them, Mankowski explores themes such as the darker side of intimacy and friendship; scadenfreude, jealousy, petty rivalries - but the characters are more than mere ciphers for psychological analysis. They are living, breathing people, whose mutual understanding, whose deep bonds a...