Andrew Hankinson. Writer in Newcastle upon Tyne.
I’ve been a professional writer since 2003. I’ve written for the New Yorker, Wired, FT Weekend Magazine, Guardian, BBC Radio 4, GQ, Spectator and the Sunday Times. I’ve written two nonfiction books and won awards. You can email me at andrewhankinson [@] hotmail.com. My agent is Toby Mundy.
JOURNALISM
I trained as a journalist at Darlington College, worked as a staff writer in London, then became a freelancer. I’ve reported from places such as Haiti, Iraq and Ukraine, covering complex stories such as chemical weapons and heart surgery. Some of my work:
When the Saudis bought Newcastle (Air Mail, 2024)
The age of uncancelling (Spectator, 2024)
Was Gordon Burn a Geordie writer? (QT, 2024)
Heading for disaster (GQ, 2024)
Saudi Arabia's soccer boom (The Athletic/New York Times, 2023)
I got inside Raoul Moat’s head (Sunday Times, 2023)
A boy who killed himself (BBC Radio 4,, 2020)
An upset at the comedians’ table (New Yorker, 2017)
Destroying Syria's chemical weapons (Wired, 2014)
Intergenerational conflict (Observer Magazine, 2010)
DON'T APPLAUD. EITHER LAUGH OR DON'T. (AT THE COMEDY CELLAR.)
My second nonfiction book, published in 2020 in the UK and 2021 in the US, told the story of a comedy club in New York. It was about power, speech, and the return of Louis CK. Responses included:
“Superb” The Atlantic
“Excellent” Dara Ó Briain
”Thought-provoking” TLS
“Hankinson is a master of showing, not telling” Helen Lewis
“Fascinating” Al Murray
“Compelling” Unherd
“A fascinating book” Monocle
“Fucking fantastic” Doug Stanhope
“All the makings of a future cult classic” Benjamin Myers
YOU COULD DO SOMETHING AMAZING WITH YOUR LIFE [YOU ARE RAOUL MOAT]
My debut book was published in 2016. It told the true story of the murderer Raoul Moat from Moat's point of view in second-person. It won a Northern Writers Award and the CWA non-fiction prize.
“Extraordinary” Spectator
“Brilliantly written [...] Smart literary nonfiction" Jon Ronson
“A powerful portrayal of the banality of violence” Sunday Times
“An experiment in empathy” Louis Theroux
“Uncomfortable, claustrophobic” Guardian
“A remarkable book” Irish Independent
"“Uncomfortable work, and necessary" TLS
“Powerfully and claustrophobically effective” London Review of Books
”Perhaps the most brilliant piece of extended journalism in recent years” Jewish Chronicle
“Desperately sad” Observer
“Devastating” LA Review of Books
“Riveting and formally dazzling” The Atlantic
APPEARANCES
I've appeared on television and radio, including BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live, Newsnight and Daily Politics. I’ve done events at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, London's Southbank Centre, and at festivals around the UK. I was a Read Regional author in 2017, contributed to New Narratives for the North East in 2020, and was a Gordon Burn Prize judge in 2024. I've also appeared on podcasts such as Shakespeare & Co, Always Take Notes, Little Atoms and Monocle.
LOGROLL PODCAST
I started a podcast in 2021. Each episode is me interviewing an author about a nonfiction book they wrote. Guests have included Ed Caesar, Sam Knight, Cathy Rentzenbrink, Jon Ronson, Helen Lewis, Alia Malek and Adam Hochschild. It's available on most platforms or here.
TEACHING
I got a distinction in a creative writing MA at Newcastle University in 2016, after which I taught writing there to undergraduates and postgraduates for several years, including creative nonfiction.