Yrsa daley ward biography of barack obama

Yrsa Daley-Ward

English writer, model and actor (born )

Yrsa Daley-Ward (born ) is an English writer, model and actor.[1][2] She is known for her debut book, Bone, as well as for her spoken-word poetry, and for being an "Instagram poet".[3][4] Her memoir, The Terrible, was published in ,[5] and in it won the PEN/Ackerley Prize.[6] She co-wrote Black Is King, Beyoncé's musical film and visual album, which also serves as a visual companion to the album The Lion King: The Gift.[7]

Life and career

Yrsa Daley-Ward was born to a Jamaican mother and Nigerian father in Chorley, Lancashire, in Northern England, where she grew up with her grandparents, who were devout Seventh-day Adventists.[1]

In her late teens and early 20s, Daley-Ward was a model, "working for brands such as Apple, Topshop, Estée Lauder and Nike".[8] In search of better opportunities, she found the money to buy a ticket to South Africa, where she eventually lived for three years, and has said: "The thing that attracted me to South Africa was that the models look like me and there's so much more diversity".[9]

In her mids, 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 , she was invited back to South Africa to work alongside the British Council, headlining two poetry festivals in Johannesburg.[10]

Daley-Ward was then listed as one of the top five female writers to watch for by Company Magazine.[11]

Daley-Ward is known for her poems and writings on topics such as identity, race, mental health, and femininity.[12] She is vocal on topics of depression, particularly in her poem "Mental Health", published in her collection Bone. First self-published in , and subsequently issued by Penguin Books in 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."[13]

Before publishing Bone in , she released a book of short stories entitled On Snakes and Other Stories in [12]

Daley-Ward has used social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter in order to promote her work and connect with her fans. She also made an appearance in a TEDx Talk[14] conference with her talk Your Stories and You.[15]

Daley-Ward has been quoted as saying: "If you're afraid to write it, that's a good sign. I suppose you know you're writing the truth when you're terrified". In an interview with ELLE, she talks openly about her past and struggles along her own journey in developing thicker skin in the face of criticism.[16]

In June , 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",[17] while the reviewer for The Sunday Times described Daley-Ward as "a stylish writer, as well as an unusual voice".[18] The same month, Daley-Ward discussed her life on BBC Radio Four's Woman's Hour and read her poem "Poetry".[19] In , The Terrible won the PEN/Ackerley Prize.[6]

Daley-Ward co-wrote Black Is King, Beyoncé's musical film and visual album, which serves as a visual companion to the album The Lion King: The Gift.[20] Daley-Ward's work has appeared in many publications worldwide, including Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Dazed, Playboy and Notion. She is also a contributor to the anthology New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby.[21][22]

Daley-Ward's book, The How – Notes on the Great Work of Meeting Yourself, is "a compilation of essays, poems, heartfelt musings and earnest advice that provides a 'nudge toward' finding your voice".[23]

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes - Outer Range Series 1 and 2
- World on FireConnie KnightSeries 1 and 2

Publications

Books

  • On Snakes and Other Stories (3:am Press, , ISBN&#;)
  • Bone (CreateSpace Independent Publishing, ; Penguin (Particular Books), , Foreword by Kiese Laymon, ISBN&#;)
  • The Terrible (Penguin, , ISBN&#;)
  • The How – Notes on the Great Work of Meeting Yourself (Penguin, , ISBN )

Acting work

  • World on Fire ()
  • Boxx ()
  • White Colour Black ()
  • A Moving Image ()
  • Der Koch ()
  • Death Race: Inferno () [video]
  • David is Dying ()

Also appeared in:

  • Kidnap and Ransom ()
  • Shameless ()
  • Drop Dead Gorgeous ()[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ abYrsa Daley-Ward at Penguin Random House.
  2. ^ ab"Yrsa Daley-Ward". IMDb. Retrieved 17 November
  3. ^Guest, Katy (8 June ), "The Terrible by Yrsa Daley-Ward review – a wincingly honest coming-of-age memoir", The Guardian.
  4. ^Waldman, Katy (13 June ), "Yrsa Daley-Ward Breaks Out of the Instapoetry Pack with Her Memoir 'The Terrible'", The New Yorker.
  5. ^"Yrsa Daley-Ward" at Amazon.
  6. ^ abChandler, Mark (10 July ), "Daley-Ward wins PEN Ackerley Prize", The Bookseller.
  7. ^Thompson, Rachel (31 July ). "Beyoncé drops breathtaking 'Black Is King' visual album with cameos from all the family". Mashable. Retrieved 4 August
  8. ^Barlow, Eve (4 September ). "Yrsa Daley-Ward: 'People are afraid to tell the truth'". The Observer. ISSN&#; Retrieved 17 November
  9. ^Rumble, Taylor-Dior (7 January ). "Yrsa Daley-Ward: The model who turned her pain into poetry". BBC News.
  10. ^"Yrsa Daley-Ward «&#;The British Blacklist". . Retrieved 17 November
  11. ^Thomas-Bailey, Carlene, "Five female authors you NEED to know", Company magazine,
  12. ^ abMatshego, Lebogang (20 March ). "Ten Female Contemporary African Poets". . Retrieved 20 March
  13. ^Abdurraqib, Hanif (31 December ). "Yrsa Daley-Ward's Powerful, Poetic Distillations". The Atlantic.
  14. ^"TEDx Talks". YouTube. Retrieved 17 November
  15. ^"Your stories and you: Yrsa Daley-Ward at TEDxSquareMile", TEDx Talks video, 2 December
  16. ^"Instagram Poet Yrsa Daley-Ward On Self-Love, Short Attention Spans And The Best Time To Write". ELLE UK. 12 October Retrieved 17 November
  17. ^Van Praagh, Anna, "The Terrible by Yrsa Daley-Ward - review: a must-read memoir from an explosive new talent", Evening Standard, 31 May
  18. ^Angelini, Francesca, "Review: The Terrible by Yrsa Daley-Ward — the life struggles that made her an Instapoet", The Sunday Times, 3 June
  19. ^Presenter:Jane Garvey; Producer: Kirsty Starkey; Interviewed guest: Yrsa Daley-Ward (4 June ). "Queens of Industry, Yrsa Daley-Ward, Northern Ireland and abortion". Woman's Hour. minutes in. BBC. BBC Radio Four. Retrieved 4 June
  20. ^Edoro, Aainehi (3 August ). "Two African Writers Featured in Beyoncé's Black Is King Visual Album". Brittle Paper. Retrieved 23 August
  21. ^Busby, Margaret (9 March ). "From Ayòbámi Adébáyò to Zadie Smith: meet the New Daughters of Africa". The Guardian.
  22. ^"Margaret Busby Presents: New Daughters of Africa". Somerset House. September
  23. ^Theis, Brook (11 November ). "Yrsa Daley-Ward on connecting with your authentic self". Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved 30 September

External links

  • Official website
  • Taylor-Dior Rumble, "Yrsa Daley-Ward: The model who turned her pain into poetry", BBC News, 7 January
  • Louise Carpenter, "Yrsa Daley-Ward: the extraordinary life of the model poet of Instagram", The Times, 2 June
  • Una Mullally, "Yrsa Daley-Ward: 'All the pretty women were all white'", Irish Times, 9 June