bone

Honest, unflinching and unforgettable . . . one of Britain's best writers

Honest, unflinching and unforgettable . . . one of Britain's best writers

an expert storyteller. of the rarest. and purest kind--daley-ward is uncannily attentive and in tune to the things beneath life. beneath the skin. beneath the weather of the everyday.

Yrsa's work is like holding the truth in your hands. It sweats and breathes before you.
A glorious living thing

You may think poetry is not for you, but please push yourself a little, go out of your comfort zone and buy bone by Yrsa Daley-Ward ... You will thank us for it

[ bone ] will hit you like a gut punch ... Some poems had me weeping; I printed others to pin to my wall for daily inspiration

[Yrsa Daley-Ward] is at the realm of a new wave of contemporary poets who inspire an unprecedented level of empathy and accessibility through their honest and raw approach . . . [A] powerful collection of a woman facing tumultuous inner and external battles head on, delivered with a hard-hitting directness, yet with inflections of optimism throughout that are bound to touch readers to their core

One of the must-reads of the year

Another stunning excavator of human heat and light, Yrsa Daley-Ward goes straight to the messy beating heart of animal attraction with bone , mesmerizing poems that strip bare the pain and beauty of negotiating longing, sex and love

Beautiful ... Moving ... Touching

Yrsa Daley-Ward is a writer, poet and actress of mixed Jamaican and Nigerian heritage. Since publishing her first poetry collection, the widely beloved bone, Yrsa has been in a constant state of exciting creative output, which earns her continued critical acclaim. Her follow-up book, the lyrical memoir The Terrible, garnered glowing praise and won her the prestigious PEN Ackerley Prize in 2019. Following that, she published The How, which NPR called "a hopeful work of meditation and healing" and has been taught in women's prisons around the world. Amidst all this, Yrsa continues to work and write in other areas of entertainment. In 2019, she worked closely with Beyoncé to co-write Black Is King, "a grand statement of African-diaspora pride and creative power" (NYT) and has been adapting The Terrible for screen. As an actress, she played Grace Jones in Kwei-Armah's latest feature film. She splits her time between Brooklyn, New York and London.