Guy Mankowski's Blog
October 11, 2022
My TEDx talk on opening Kristen Pfaff's archive for a new book is now out...
I was first inspired to write a book about Kristen Pfaff from Hole when I read her mother, Janet's excellent book about her daughter's life and it contained excerpts from Kristen's diary. An entry in which she describes as a young girl having a conversation with the sea remains the most beautiful piece of writing I've read. So to now be writing her biography with her brother is an honour for me.
The first fruits of the work of the last few years on this front are my TEDx talk on my experience of listening to Kristen Pfaff's previously unheard diary tapes and opening her archive & how this made me re-open the archive from my own youth (and relive my own days of being in bands). Lot’s more new and unheard Kristen Pfaff information to come when the book is out but for now hope this whets your appetite for this book.
To me, like Kurt Cobain and River Phoenix, Kristen Pfaff was an artist with a very pure outlook on the world and her life deserves far more attention than her death-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=des...
The first fruits of the work of the last few years on this front are my TEDx talk on my experience of listening to Kristen Pfaff's previously unheard diary tapes and opening her archive & how this made me re-open the archive from my own youth (and relive my own days of being in bands). Lot’s more new and unheard Kristen Pfaff information to come when the book is out but for now hope this whets your appetite for this book.
To me, like Kurt Cobain and River Phoenix, Kristen Pfaff was an artist with a very pure outlook on the world and her life deserves far more attention than her death-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=des...
March 29, 2022
My interview series with English pop rebels (including Gary Numan) for Albion's Secret History now has over 22,000 views.
You can see my interview series for Zer0 Books with English Pop Rebels and outsiders for Albion's Secret History via the links below-
Gary Numan interview-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7ajm...
The uncut version (in which Gary goes into his unpublished dystopian novels)-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSwOM...
Kate Jackson (The Long Blondes) interview-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTCBM...
Gazelle Twin interview-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-38M...
On Remembering A Time Before The Great Culture War-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvNCR...
On Counterculture After Covid-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiDtz...
Gary Numan interview-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7ajm...
The uncut version (in which Gary goes into his unpublished dystopian novels)-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSwOM...
Kate Jackson (The Long Blondes) interview-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTCBM...
Gazelle Twin interview-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-38M...
On Remembering A Time Before The Great Culture War-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvNCR...
On Counterculture After Covid-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiDtz...
September 17, 2021
Albion's Secret History event with Kate Jackson (The Long Blondes) and John Robb & Will Self event for Lincoln Book Festival
On Tuesday 12th October at The Collection, Lincoln I am honoured to be talking about my book 'Albion’s Secret History: Snapshots of England's Pop Rebels and Outsiders' with iconic frontwoman of The Long Blondes Kate Kackson.
Focusing on figures who served to define England’s unofficial cultural history, this book was written to penetrate the surface of England’s pop history, including the venues it was shaped in, alongside art, film, architecture and politics, and throw some new light on the ideas of Englishness it reveals.
In addition on 14th October I'll be in conversation with award-winning author, journalist and political commentator Will Self to discuss his new book, Will, in a one-off event at the University of Lincoln. Tickets for both are available from here-
https://www.lincolnbookfestival.org
Focusing on figures who served to define England’s unofficial cultural history, this book was written to penetrate the surface of England’s pop history, including the venues it was shaped in, alongside art, film, architecture and politics, and throw some new light on the ideas of Englishness it reveals.
In addition on 14th October I'll be in conversation with award-winning author, journalist and political commentator Will Self to discuss his new book, Will, in a one-off event at the University of Lincoln. Tickets for both are available from here-
https://www.lincolnbookfestival.org
April 6, 2021
My Interview Series With English Pop Rebels and Outsiders for 'Albion's Secret History'...
As part of the release of 'Albion's Secret History: Snapshots of England's Pop Rebels and Outsiders' I was honoured to get to interview some of the English artists I discuss in the book. The chapter on Gary Numan is entitled 'Interzones, Edgelands, Psykick Dancehalls and Shamans: Gary Numan, Joy Division and Mark E. Smith'. In our discussion Gary and I discussed the putting together of the Numan persona, his unpublished fiction that informed it, and his experiences of fame. You can watch the interview here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7ajm...
I talk a lot in the book about The Long Blondes, and how they drew from the legacy of Pulp and Suede, in putting together their Modernist image. The chapter on them is entitled 'Pencil Skirts and Motorway Modernism: The Long Blondes and Black Box Recorder'. I was honoured to chat to Kate Jackson about her time in The Long Blondes, her art, and her work with Bernard Butler.
My interview with her was wonderfully candid and covered many very eclectic topics- from the influence of Barbara Windsor to what it was like seeing her fans dress as her. It can be found here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTCBM...
I talk a lot in the book about The Long Blondes, and how they drew from the legacy of Pulp and Suede, in putting together their Modernist image. The chapter on them is entitled 'Pencil Skirts and Motorway Modernism: The Long Blondes and Black Box Recorder'. I was honoured to chat to Kate Jackson about her time in The Long Blondes, her art, and her work with Bernard Butler.
My interview with her was wonderfully candid and covered many very eclectic topics- from the influence of Barbara Windsor to what it was like seeing her fans dress as her. It can be found here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTCBM...
September 3, 2020
How Kurt Cobain and River Phoenix influenced my new novel "Dead Rock Stars"
The actor River Phoenix was a huge influence on “Dead Rock Stars” but it is hard to easily explain why. People might know him best as the young Indiana Jones- with the floppy fringe- from ‘The Last Crusade’ and he was also very moving as a young troubled teen in the hit film ‘Stand By Me’. He had a very bohemian band whose songs were a unique rock / folk hybrid with very earnest lyrics about love and climate change, called ‘Aleka’s Attic’. I don’t just have a particularly wild character named after him in the novel, but my protagonist Jeff’s band is also called ‘Aleka’. (In River’s mythology Aleka was a philosopher who from his attic treehouse drew in a following by debating spiritual ideas). When River tragically died Michael Stipe of REM bought the back catalogue of Aleka’s Attic and Rain River, his sister, is slowly releasing it. The idea of an artist having a great lost record which is only just coming to light was a huge influence behind the other main character, Emma, and the scattered recordings she leaves behind, which in their own little way change the world too. I really enjoyed writing Emma’s angsty lyrics for her songs.
Kurt Cobain is probably the other biggest influence on the novel, because to me he took the artistic sensibility as far as it could go. From lyrics to interviews he used every means at his disposal to convey his 'message' (like Phoenix). He promoted a message of feminism through his interviews and lyrics, with songs like ‘Polly’, and he used his body and clothing to scream the messages that he wanted Nirvana to get across. At various points in my novel musicians play Nirvana songs. I was very much reminded of when I first learnt to play guitar that (like a lot of people) it was Nirvana’s songs I learnt first. It was so exciting to me that such catchy, emotional, raw songs could be picked up so easily and become a mouthpiece for your own emotions. It also became, in a punk way, possibly to express yourself knowing it requited so few chords.
In many ways my new novel book is a tribute to a lost era of mix tapes and cassettes on magazine covers. The book is heavily influenced by novels like Helen Cross' 'My Summer Of Love', Francoise Sagan's 'Bonjour Tristesse' and Emma Forrest's 'Namedropper'; as well as all those music weeklies from the nineties, like Melody Maker. As flippant as those music weeklies now seem and as dismissed as they are they denote a time when culture had more focus and weight, when there was still a distinct counter-culture, before the naivety of the nineties was exposed. I can't think of a story I've written where every word has felt as important to me.
I hope you like it x
"Dead Rock Stars" is published on the 14th September and it can be pre-ordered / bought here- https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Rock-Star...
Kurt Cobain is probably the other biggest influence on the novel, because to me he took the artistic sensibility as far as it could go. From lyrics to interviews he used every means at his disposal to convey his 'message' (like Phoenix). He promoted a message of feminism through his interviews and lyrics, with songs like ‘Polly’, and he used his body and clothing to scream the messages that he wanted Nirvana to get across. At various points in my novel musicians play Nirvana songs. I was very much reminded of when I first learnt to play guitar that (like a lot of people) it was Nirvana’s songs I learnt first. It was so exciting to me that such catchy, emotional, raw songs could be picked up so easily and become a mouthpiece for your own emotions. It also became, in a punk way, possibly to express yourself knowing it requited so few chords.
In many ways my new novel book is a tribute to a lost era of mix tapes and cassettes on magazine covers. The book is heavily influenced by novels like Helen Cross' 'My Summer Of Love', Francoise Sagan's 'Bonjour Tristesse' and Emma Forrest's 'Namedropper'; as well as all those music weeklies from the nineties, like Melody Maker. As flippant as those music weeklies now seem and as dismissed as they are they denote a time when culture had more focus and weight, when there was still a distinct counter-culture, before the naivety of the nineties was exposed. I can't think of a story I've written where every word has felt as important to me.
I hope you like it x
"Dead Rock Stars" is published on the 14th September and it can be pre-ordered / bought here- https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Rock-Star...
June 24, 2020
"Dead Rock Stars" now available for pre-order
I'm thrilled to announce that my first novel in five years is being published internationally by Darkstroke / Crooked Cat Books in September.
‘The first page of my sister’s diary was a picture of Frances Farmer, facing a drawing of Ophelia. My sister’s psychic accomplices were all tragic figures…’
Emma Imrie was a Plath-obsessed, self-taught teenage musician dreaming of fame, from a remote village on the Isle of Wight. She found it too, briefly becoming a star of the nineties Camden music scene. But then she died in mysterious circumstances.
In the aftermath of Emma’s death, her younger brother, Jeff, is forced by their parents to stay at the opulent home of childhood friends on the island.
During a wild summer of beach parties and music, Jeff faces up to the challenges that come with young love, youthful ambition and unresolved grief. His sister's prodigious advice from beyond the grave becomes the only weapon he has against an indifferent world.
As well as the only place where the answers he craves might exist…
Pre-order here- mybook.to/deadrockstars
‘The first page of my sister’s diary was a picture of Frances Farmer, facing a drawing of Ophelia. My sister’s psychic accomplices were all tragic figures…’
Emma Imrie was a Plath-obsessed, self-taught teenage musician dreaming of fame, from a remote village on the Isle of Wight. She found it too, briefly becoming a star of the nineties Camden music scene. But then she died in mysterious circumstances.
In the aftermath of Emma’s death, her younger brother, Jeff, is forced by their parents to stay at the opulent home of childhood friends on the island.
During a wild summer of beach parties and music, Jeff faces up to the challenges that come with young love, youthful ambition and unresolved grief. His sister's prodigious advice from beyond the grave becomes the only weapon he has against an indifferent world.
As well as the only place where the answers he craves might exist…
Pre-order here- mybook.to/deadrockstars
"Albion's Secret History" due March 2021
I'm honoured to have recently signed a contract with Zer0 Books- home to brilliant authors such as Mark Fisher and Laurie Penny- for my first non-fiction collection, 'Albion's Secret History- Snapshots of England’s Rebels and Outsiders'.
This volume compiles snapshots of English pop culture’s rebels and outsiders- from Evelyn Waugh to PJ Harvey via The Long Blondes and The Libertines. By focusing on cultural figures who served to define England, this book looks at those who have really shaped Albion’s secret history- not just its oft-quoted official cultural history. By departing from the narrative that dutifully follows the Beatles, The Sex Pistols and Oasis and by instead penetrating the surface of England’s pop history (including the venues it was shaped in) this piece throws new light on ideas of Englishness. As well as music it draws from art, film, architecture and politics, showing the moments at which artists like Tricky and Goldfrapp altered our sense of a sometimes green but sometimes unpleasant land.
The astute will notice that my surname isn’t English. I’ve always had a complex relationship with the idea of Englishness and during the writing this book I turned a corner in terms of how I saw the place. For years almost all my attention was drawn to the historical mistakes of the country and our institutions and I didn’t realise how much I privately celebrated so many facets of our culture (although what does ‘our’ even mean?) I think it matters what you think of your surroundings, because they reflect who you are. So although this collection is a love letter to the country there is poison in it too. So I suppose it’s a poison pet love letter to England...
Amazon link- https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1...
This volume compiles snapshots of English pop culture’s rebels and outsiders- from Evelyn Waugh to PJ Harvey via The Long Blondes and The Libertines. By focusing on cultural figures who served to define England, this book looks at those who have really shaped Albion’s secret history- not just its oft-quoted official cultural history. By departing from the narrative that dutifully follows the Beatles, The Sex Pistols and Oasis and by instead penetrating the surface of England’s pop history (including the venues it was shaped in) this piece throws new light on ideas of Englishness. As well as music it draws from art, film, architecture and politics, showing the moments at which artists like Tricky and Goldfrapp altered our sense of a sometimes green but sometimes unpleasant land.
The astute will notice that my surname isn’t English. I’ve always had a complex relationship with the idea of Englishness and during the writing this book I turned a corner in terms of how I saw the place. For years almost all my attention was drawn to the historical mistakes of the country and our institutions and I didn’t realise how much I privately celebrated so many facets of our culture (although what does ‘our’ even mean?) I think it matters what you think of your surroundings, because they reflect who you are. So although this collection is a love letter to the country there is poison in it too. So I suppose it’s a poison pet love letter to England...
Amazon link- https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1...
January 15, 2019
Author Appearance at Hexham Book Festival on 12/02/18
I'm looking forward to visiting Cramlington Library as part of Northumberland Libraries and Hexham Book Festival’s ‘Silence in the Library’ on 12/02 in probably my only author event in 2019.
I'll be reading from my next book 'Camden Afterlife', which follows the wild summer of a teenage boy coming to terms with the loss of his sister, a star of the nineties Riot Grrrl music scene.
Refreshments will be served.
I'll be reading from my next book 'Camden Afterlife', which follows the wild summer of a teenage boy coming to terms with the loss of his sister, a star of the nineties Riot Grrrl music scene.
Refreshments will be served.
April 25, 2018
Upcoming Talks & Events
Read Regional Author Event. Washington Town Centre Library, The Galleries, Washington, Tyne and Wear, NE38 7RZ
Wednesday 2 May, 5.45pm
Read Regional Author Event. Shipley Library, 2 Wellcroft, Shipley, Bradford, BD18 3QH
Saturday 5 May, 2pm
'Post Now: Synthetic Futures In Fiction' talk.
Room 213, Rev Vardy Centre Sir Tom Cowie Campus Sunderland SR6 0DD
Wednesday, May 9, 4pm
'Write Festival: Author Journeys' panel.
Write Festival, The Word, Market Place, South Shields, NE33 1JF.
Saturday 20th May, 1.30pm.
Read Regional Author Event. Halifax Central Library and Archives, Square road, Halifax, HX1 1QG
Thursday 24 May, 7pm
Read Regional Author Event. Barnard Castle Library, Witham Building, 2 Hall Street, Barnard Castle, DL12 8JB
Tuesday 5 June, 10am
Advance booking is advisable and all events may be subject to change. See our individual event listings for further information.
Wednesday 2 May, 5.45pm
Read Regional Author Event. Shipley Library, 2 Wellcroft, Shipley, Bradford, BD18 3QH
Saturday 5 May, 2pm
'Post Now: Synthetic Futures In Fiction' talk.
Room 213, Rev Vardy Centre Sir Tom Cowie Campus Sunderland SR6 0DD
Wednesday, May 9, 4pm
'Write Festival: Author Journeys' panel.
Write Festival, The Word, Market Place, South Shields, NE33 1JF.
Saturday 20th May, 1.30pm.
Read Regional Author Event. Halifax Central Library and Archives, Square road, Halifax, HX1 1QG
Thursday 24 May, 7pm
Read Regional Author Event. Barnard Castle Library, Witham Building, 2 Hall Street, Barnard Castle, DL12 8JB
Tuesday 5 June, 10am
Advance booking is advisable and all events may be subject to change. See our individual event listings for further information.
September 8, 2017
A Number One Novel!
With 'An Honest Deceit' having recently been re-released as an Audiobook (narrated by Ian Rankin's excellent narrator Chris Reilly) it was great to see it reach number one in quite a few of Amazon's charts- including for Psychological books, Suspense books and others.
You can now buy it as a novel, for the Kindle, or (if you're more of a listener) as an Audiobook on the link below. Thanks to all those who've ordered and reviewed it so far.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Honest-Decei...
You can now buy it as a novel, for the Kindle, or (if you're more of a listener) as an Audiobook on the link below. Thanks to all those who've ordered and reviewed it so far.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Honest-Decei...
