Yrsa Daley-Ward

In June 2018 her new book The Terrible was published, a coming-of-age memoir that The Evening Standard called "a rare combination of literary brilliance, originality of voice and a narrative that commands you to keep going until you’ve reached the last page", while the reviewer for The Sunday Times described Daley-Ward as "a stylish writer, as well as an unusual voice". The same month, Daley-Ward discussed her life on BBC Radio Four's Woman's Hour and read her poem "Poetry". In 2019 The Terrible won the PEN/Ackerley Prize.

Daley-Ward is known for her short poems on topics such as identity, race, mental health, and femininity. She is also known for being vocal on topics of depression, and for her poem entitled "Mental Health," which was published in her book Bone. First self-published in 2014, and subsequently issued by Penguin Books in 2017 with additional poems and an introductory essay by Kiese Laymon, Bone has been described by Hanif Abdurraqib in The Atlantic as an "impressive debut" that "honestly excavates a writer’s life, not simply presenting pain, but also showing an individual working through it."

While she is now better known for her poetry, both written and spoken, before releasing Bone in 2014, she released a book of short stories entitled On Snakes and Other Stories in 2013.

In her mid-20s, she began to perform and get recognized for her poetry in Cape Town, South Africa, while also working as a model. Not long after returning to London in 2012, she was invited back to South Africa to work alongside the British Council headlining two poetry festivals in Johannesburg.

Yrsa Daley-Ward (born 1989) is a writer, model and actor of West Indian and West African heritage who was born in England. She is known for her debut book, Bone, as well as for her spoken-word poetry, and for being an "Instagram poet". Her memoir, The Terrible, was published in 2018, and in 2019 won the PEN/Ackerley Prize.