Hi
Dr.Loftus,is a writer, and author based in the Eden Valley, Cumbria.
Dr Ian Loftus is a British author whose work explores the relationship between history, memory and inheritance. He is the author of four published books spanning memoir and narrative non-fiction. His memoir Smiler, reflecting on grief, family and the search for meaning after loss, reached the Amazon Top 10.
Alongside his published work, Ian writes long-form historical fiction that traces the lives of ordinary people within larger historical events. His current projects form part of a wider generational narrative that begins in the medieval period and moves through later turning points in British and Atlantic history.
Ian holds a PhD in Creative Writing and Grief and has written extensively on the role of storytelling, memory and place in shaping how lives are remembered. He lives and works in Cumbria, where the landscape and local history continue to inform his writing.
He has written and published several books including; The Awesome Power of Questions, Remember with Love and Grief Tools.
Ian has a Ph.D. in Creative Writing, and has extensively studied the therapeutic effects of creative and self-expressive writing in grief counselling. Grief has deeply influenced Ian’s writing since 2013 as he tragically lost his eldest son, Dom, at the age of twenty-two to a drunk driver. However, Ian’s current focus is to provide solace to others facing grief, using his academic and personal writing to recount the journey of a grieving father in his memoir, Smiler. If you want to discuss Ian’s research, you can contact him through his website at https://ianploftus.com/contact/.
Approach to Writing.
History through individual lives
My fiction focuses on the experiences of ordinary people living within larger historical events. Rather than retelling history, I am interested in how it is lived and remembered by those who rarely appear in official records.
Generational narrative.
Many of my projects explore the way lives echo across generations, tracing how choices, losses and migrations shape families and communities over time.
Place as memory.
Landscape and location play a central role in my work. The places where stories unfold — particularly in Cumbria and the wider Atlantic world — are not simply settings but part of the narrative itself.