Born into a devout Irish-Catholic family but raised in an impoverished, tough and violently anti-Catholic housing estate in Northern England, Moya Hession-Aiken studied art at Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester University) and also at the Central School of Art & Design (now Central Saint Martins, the world famous arts and design college at the University of Arts London), graduating with a first-class honors degree in textile design before moving to New York City to work in the garment industry.

Before too long, however, and despite close calls with U.S. immigration officials due to her undocumented status, Moya was working as a graphic artist for MTV and quickly earned an Emmy Award for the designs she’d created for the then-fledgling network. At MTV, Moya met her future husband, the producer Bill Aiken. They had a son, Liam, in 1990, a few years before Bill's tragic death from cancer in 1992 at age 34. Moya never remarried. Today, Liam Aiken is a successful actor, and Moya lives in Connecticut where she pursues her work as a fine artist, exhibiting frequently.

Books by Moya Hession-Aiken

Shoulder: a memoir

by Moya Hession-Aiken - Memoir, Nonfiction

Growing up a headstrong Irish Catholic girl in a notoriously tough housing estate in Northern England, Moya Hession-Aiken has just one goal --- to live a rich, creative life in America. SHOULDER tells the story of the riotous and hilarious path from her boisterous but warm family back home to her education in London and her escape to New York in the 1980s, where she finds everything she’s looking for --- exciting jobs in the fashion industry and later at MTV --- but where she also meets the man of her dreams, only to lose him to cancer following the birth of their son. Told in a voice that is equal parts Alan Bennett and Frank McCourt, this is a story about the thrill of taking chances and the unbearable pain of loss, as well as a profound meditation on what it takes to survive and what it means to care for others.