Yrsa Daley-Ward is the first to admit poetry’s downfall – “it’s been quite inaccessible in the past,” she tells me, “but I’m happy that’s changing.” This change is all thanks to poets like herself. Since Penguin picked up her debut book of poetry, Bone, in 2017 (originally self-published in 2014), the Chorley, Lancashire-born poet has rapidly earned a following (both on and off Instagram) for her poems, which draw on her experience as an LGBTQ woman of colour, as well as, in her own words, “anything human”.Paradoxically, it’s the visual platform of Instagram that’s given life to many of Daley-Ward’s words, and gone a long way in contesting poetry’s deeply-rooted uncool rep. Posting potent one-liners and thought-provoking excerpts, Daley-Ward uses social media as a way of reaching out and accessing a whole new audience that might otherwise shy away from poetry. “At the end of the day, people just want to feel something from the heart,” she says. And Daley-Ward’s poems are nothing if not heartfelt, exposing a vulnerability that’s irrevocably moving and hard not to identify with. Traversing everything from sexuality, mental health and growing up in the British-African diaspora, to themes of love and family, Daley-Ward’s writing touches on both the emotional trials and the wonders of the human experience, because, as she puts it, “talking saves lives”.
The young poet’s latest feat is The Terrible, a coming-of-age story told partly in prose, partly in verse. “It’s a memoir about my life,” Daley-Ward explains, “which at times has been gritty and to some people a little shocking, but it’s ultimately a tale about hope, connection and what life can give you.” Unreservedly honest and arresting, Daley-Ward’s third book (her first was a 2013 collection of short fiction called On Snakes & Other Stories) is as affecting as it is important. And with it she’s paving the way for an open, female-led conversation in an industry that desperately needs it.
“The Terrible” is published by Penguin Random House, and available from 5 June 2018. See Yrsa Daley-Ward speak alongside four London-based feminists speaking at “A Seat at the Table”, this Thursday at Conway Hall.
“The Terrible” is published by Penguin Random House, and available from 5 June 2018. See Yrsa Daley-Ward speak alongside four London-based feminists speaking at “A Seat at the Table”, this Thursday at Conway Hall.