Jim Loughran

Jim Loughran is a Northern Irish author of historical fiction based in Dublin. He graduated from Queen’s University Belfast in 1976 with an honours degree in French and Spanish, spent a year in Paris and later trained as a teacher. After teaching French in Belfast and working in advertising in Dublin, he developed a long career in human-rights advocacy and communications, including senior roles with Amnesty International and Front Line Defenders. Following his retirement, he turned from campaigning and media work to historical fiction.

Loughran’s debut novel, The Bratinsky Affair, combines historical fiction, espionage and murder mystery. Beginning in Wicklow in 1976, it follows journalist Tom O’Brien as he investigates the death of Russian émigré and Fabergé dealer Countess Irina Bratinsky, uncovering connections to revolutionary Russia, wartime France and Cold War Europe. His second novel, Syracuse Will Burn, moves to fifth-century BCE Sicily, where the prophetic Timon becomes involved in murder and political conspiracy as Syracuse faces the threat of Carthaginian attack. His work is characterised by displaced characters, international settings and private lives shaped by revolution, war and authoritarian power.