Ian Hough was born in 1965 in the Langworthy area of Salford and is an avid Manchester United supporter. Among many other things, his writing focuses on Manchester’s underground culture, with regard to travel, crime, drugs, music, football and fashion. He grew up during the 1970s and 80s in north Manchester, when music and fashion underwent changes whose effects are still reaching us today. In his neighbourhood peer-group, Hough was in a minority of young men who had not served a prison sentence. This cringeworthy claim requires further investigation; Hough is a nonsense lover and nonsense talker, and he has observed better lunatics than himself (though some may disagree on that) make utter fools of themselves, and then buggered off and written about it. He remains fascinated by the evolution of Manchester sub-culture, specifically the progression from soul boys to Bowie disciples to football casuals to Madchester, a process documented by Hough in his two books, Perry Boys and Perry Boys Abroad.

Hough came from a relatively poor family, and his voracious appetite for literature led to a shoplifting spree lasting from childhood until his 20s. He wrote stories and novels as a child, inspired as much by the blend of purloined literary voices as by life itself. Hough left school when he was 16 years old and has since been employed in too many dirty jobs to recount, most of which involved physical labour, some of which zig-zagged back and forth across the criminal line.

In 1985, age 20, Hough began travelling as a way to escape the drugs and crime-filled world in which he lived. He spent time in Israel, Egypt, Canada, the USA, Morocco, Mexico and much of Europe, where he encountered many disaffected young Brits who’d taken to travel as an escape from their domestic misadventures. He’s enjoyed many pints of beer on several continents, always making sure to stick his nose in where writers should. After travelling for years in several countries, Hough settled in America and married an American woman. To prove to himself he could do more than shovel dirt, he earned a degree in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry at the University of Massachusetts. Hough continued writing while studying science, and successfully had his first book, Perry Boys, published as a result. He believes that writers should entertain their readers with realism, preferably that which has escaped cultural embellishment between events and their recording. His life among Manchester’s grafters, chancers and hooligan ravers has been recorded in his books and articles, in Manchester United’s official magazine Inside United, fanzine United We Stand, Arena Homme+, and elsewhere. He and his wife Kim have a daughter, Zara.

He currently lives in the United States, where he continues to write. And boy does he like to talk about himself, the self-important pillock!