Born 1956 in Birmingham, Ian spent most of his childhood in Yorkshire, South Wales and Leicestershire. After graduating with a degree in Philosophy from Nottingham University and not doing very well with a number of jobs, he fled to Italy in 1981. Then he spent more than twenty years working as a teacher, translator, technical writer, project manager and consultant throughout Europe. To fill the spare time he had, he wrote a multitude of small press booklets, before returning to the UK in 2003 to take an MA in Creative Writing at Lancaster University. 

Since graduating in 2004, Ian has been working as a freelance writer, consultant, and tutor. He runs workshops and courses across the board: in high schools, universities, prisons, mental health settings, libraries and museums. Shadowtrain is the webzine he pioneered and continues to edit, publishing more experimental poetry.

He is married with one daughter.