Aimée Walsh

Aimée Walsh
Born
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Alma materLiverpool John Moores University, Queen's University Belfast
OccupationsNovelist, journalist, academic
Writing career
LanguageEnglish
GenresFiction, literary criticism, journalism
Notable workExile (2024)

Aimée Walsh (born Belfast, Northern Ireland) is an Irish novelist, journalist, and academic. Her debut novel Exile was published in 2024. Walsh is a Columnist and Deputy Editor at the Daily Mirror, where she writes on books, feminism, and culture, and has been shortlisted for the Society of Editors Media Freedom Awards.[1][2] She has written for The Irish Times, RTÉ Culture, The Observer, and The Independent, and her scholarly work focuses on Irish literature, gender, and cultural history, including the monograph Writing Resistance in Northern Ireland (Liverpool University Press, 2024).[3] Walsh also led and presented a three-part investigative documentary series on an online suicide forum for the Daily Mirror YouTube channel.[4]

Early life and education

Walsh was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.[5] She attended Belfast Royal Academy.[5] She studied an undergraduate degree at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), before undertaking a Master's degree at Queen's University Belfast.[5] She returned to Liverpool John Moore's University, where she completed a PhD in Irish Literature and Cultural History in 2020.[6][7]

Academic work

Walsh's research focuses on Irish literature, gender, nationalism, and cultural history.

Her monograph, Writing Resistance in Northern Ireland, was published by Liverpool University Press in 2024.[3] Reviewers praised the breadth of materials used as evidence; Walsh discusses historical accounts, fictional narratives, documentaries, testimonies, pamphlets and poetry.[8] Critics argued that this study added to the knowledge of both republicanism and feminism in Northern Ireland,[8][9] with a review in Irish Studies Review calling it an "exciting contribution" to the field.[9]

Journalism and commentary

Walsh contributes opinion, social commentary, and literary criticism to a range of publications. As of 2026, she works as a Columnist and Deputy Editor at the Daily Mirror.[10] There, she led and presented a three-part investigative documentary series called 'Buy To Die' on an online suicide forum and a legal poison, available on the Daily Mirror YouTube channel.[11] Before joining the Daily Mirror, she wrote regularly for: The Irish Times and RTÉ Culture as a book critic. Walsh has also written for: The Observer; Refinery29; Service95; The Independent; Dublin Review of Books; Stylist Magazine.[12][13][14][15][16][17] In 2025, she was shortlisted for the Society of Editors Media Freedom Awards under the "Commentator of the Year (Popular)" category.[2]

Literary career

Walsh's debut novel, Exile, was published by John Murray on 23 May 2024.[18] It follows a young Irish woman who is assaulted shortly before leaving moving from Belfast to Liverpool for university.[18][19] Walsh described it as "a novel primarily about the aftermath of sexual violence, the shifting nature of friendships, and that particular feeling of leaving home at 18".[18]

The Irish Times described the novel as "somewhere between Nikolai Gogol and Sally Rooney", praising it as "among the best of contemporary Irish fiction".[20] The Irish Examiner called it "a brilliant novel about friendship, consent and displacement from a vibrant new voice."[21]

Selected works

Novels

  • Exile (John Murray, 2024)[19]

Academic publications

  • Walsh, Aimée. "'Curiosity with corpses': Poetry, nationalism and gender in Seamus Heaney's North (1975) and Medbh McGuckian's The Flower Master (1982)." Journal of Gender Studies, 30(3): 317–328 (2021).[22]
  • Writing Resistance in Northern Ireland (Liverpool University Press, 2024).[23]

References

  1. ↑ "The Mirror: News, Sport, Celebrity & Entertainment". The Mirror. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
  2. 1 2 "Society of Editors Media Freedom Awards 2025 shortlist". Society of Editors. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  3. 1 2 Walsh, Aimée (2024). Writing Resistance in Northern Ireland. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1-83764-468-1.
  4. ↑ The Mirror (2025-09-10). Exposing the online forums linked to deaths of children and teenagers | Mirror Investigation. Retrieved 2026-03-18 – via YouTube.
  5. 1 2 3 Leonard, Sue (2024-05-25). "Beginner's Pluck: Belfast-born writer Aimée Walsh". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
  6. ↑ "LJMU backdrop to author Aimée's big break". Liverpool John Moores University. 24 June 2024. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  7. ↑ "Aimee Walsh". rcwlitagency.com. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
  8. 1 2 Hopkins, Stephen (2026-02-11). "Writing resistance in Northern Ireland: by Aimée Walsh, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2024, 216+xi pp., £100 (hardback), ISBN 9781837644681". Irish Political Studies: 1–3. doi:10.1080/07907184.2026.2628349. ISSN 0790-7184.
  9. 1 2 McAllister, Ciara (2025-04-03). "Writing Resistance in Northern Ireland: by Aimée Walsh, Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, 2024, 232 pp., £100 (hardback), ISBN 9781837644681". Irish Studies Review. 33 (2): 309–312. doi:10.1080/09670882.2025.2492007. ISSN 0967-0882.
  10. ↑ "Aimée Walsh profile". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  11. ↑ "The Daily Mirror Investigates – YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  12. ↑ Walsh, Aimée (2023-09-03). "Prophet Song by Paul Lynch review – a tale of Dublin's descent into dystopia is crucial reading". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
  13. ↑ Walsh, Aimée. "Everything I Wish I'd Known About Breast Reduction". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
  14. ↑ "Violence Against Women Is Endemic In Ireland – Here's What ..." service95.com. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
  15. ↑ "Here's why I'm not surprised by the Jonah Hill texts | Aimée Walsh". The Independent. 2023-07-10. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
  16. ↑ Earls, Maurice (2024-09-23). "Only Connect". DRB. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
  17. ↑ "How much do students owe in loan debt? A writer shares her story". www.stylist.co.uk. 2024-07-27. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
  18. 1 2 3 Gill, Sarah. "Page Turners: 'Exile' author Aimée Walsh | IMAGE.ie". Retrieved 2026-03-19.
  19. 1 2 Walsh, Aimée (2024-09-12). Exile. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-1-3998-1587-1.
  20. ↑ Allen, Nicholas (27 May 2024). "Exile by Aimée Walsh: Haunted territories, hidden trauma". The Irish Times.
  21. ↑ "Beginner's Pluck: Belfast-born writer Aimée Walsh". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  22. ↑ "'Curiosity with corpses': Poetry, nationalism and gender in Seamus Heaney's North (1975) and Medbh McGuckian's The Flower Master (1982)". Salford Repository. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  23. ↑ "Liverpool University Press". Liverpool University Press. doi:10.3828/9781837644681 (inactive 21 March 2026). Retrieved 6 December 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of March 2026 (link)
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