Mikey Walsh (born 22 September 1980) is a British writer and columnist.

Biography

Walsh was brought up to be a bare-knuckle fighter in the Romany community, but being gay, he was forced to leave his family and culture in 1996. Walsh's earliest interview was for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

's ''The Choice'' with

Michael Buerk Michael Duncan Buerk (born 18 February 1946) is a British journalist and newsreader. He presented BBC News from 1973 to 2002 and has been the host of BBC Radio 4's ''The Moral Maze'' since 1990. He was also the presenter of BBC One's docudrama ...

where he spoke about his life and what brought him to have to leave his culture. In 2014 and 2015, Walsh was added to ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

s Rainbow List of the most influential British LGBT people.

Books

''Gypsy Boy'' (2010) was Walsh's debut autobiography and a UK best-seller. It was published by

Hodder & Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette. History Early history The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publishe ...

UK and St. Martin's Press USA. ''Gypsy Boy: On the Run'' (2011) was Walsh's second autobiography and sequel to ''Gypsy Boy'', also a UK best-seller. It was published by

UK and St. Martin's Press USA.

Film

The film adaptation of Walsh's first book, ''Gypsy Boy'', was in development, with the screenplay adapted by James Graham. '' X+Y'' director Morgan Matthews was set to direct, and

Benedict Cumberbatch Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor. Known for his work on screen and stage, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Benedict Cumberbatch, various accolades, including a British Aca ...

was set to play Walsh's Father.

LGBT

Walsh was filmed for the first time to share his

coming out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out ...

story for The Albert Kennedy Trust's winter appeal. Walsh has been featured in ''

Attitude Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), an individual's predisposed state of mind regarding a value * Metaphysics of presence * Propositional attitude, a relational mental state connecting a person to a prop ...

s "Gay Role Models" issue, and has written various guest

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression membe ...

for ''

Gay Times ''Gay Times'' (stylized in all caps), also known as ''Gay Times Magazine'' and as ''GT'', is a UK-based LGBTQ+ media brand established in 1975. Originally a magazine for gay and bisexual men, the company now includes content for the LGBTQ+ comm ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Mikey 1980 births Living people 21st-century British writers British Romani people British autobiographers British male writers British gay writers LGBT Romani people