Hana Loftus

Rising literary star Hana Loftus talks about her debut book, Sixteen Acres: The Life of an Apple Orchard. 

Over the course of a year, Loftus walks the land with Andrew, the keeper of a 16-acre apple orchard in Essex. She listens as he unspools its history. She learns the difference between White Transparent and Beauty of Bath. And she absorbs the lessons that Andrew draws from the earth, tree and fruit.

Through this close engagement with the land, she finds that the orchard also teaches, becoming a living lesson in what matters, how to live, and what it means to truly know a place deep in your bones.

Hana Loftus grew up in east Suffolk and, after spells in London and rural Alabama, has lived in north Essex for the last eighteen years. She is an architect, planner and writer, and has contributed to a number of books, including most recently Common Treasures. She was shortlisted for the Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize in 2025. Sixteen Acres is her first book.