Yrsa Daley-Ward

From navigating the oft competing worlds of religion and desire, to balancing society's expectations with the raw experience of being a woman in the world; from detailing the experiences of growing up as a first generation black British woman, to working through situations of dependence and abuse; from finding solace in the echoing caverns of depression and loss, to exploring the vulnerability and redemption in falling in love, each of the raw and immediate poems in Daley-Ward's bone resonate to the core of what it means to be human.

Bone

Edna

Maggie Gordon

Some lovely biting poems, though I was left wanting a bit more from the collection.

nair

“They say women are gentler, treat 
each other better. 
Please. 
As if we never learned to eroticise our 
rage, 
to block out the screaming of the gut.”

In bone, Yrsa Daley-Ward writes a series of poems ranging across various themes of love, family, race, sex & sexuality, religion, dependency, and more. We get to meet different characters as we follow her narration of their stories and her own. Her poems reflect what we are afraid to say out loud - musings on how we love and how we hurt, tales about fractures in families, and spirals of self discovery. This is the first poetry collection I’ve read in full and what a way to start! From the sensual and beautiful to the detached and solemn, we follow the ties of each person and each poem as they all come to a realization that love is a complexity of holding multiple truths at once sometimes we get it and sometimes we just aren’t meant to hold on to it.

“You will come away bruised
but this will give you poetry.”

“yrsa daley-ward’s bone is a symphony of breaking and mending. . . . she lays her hands on the pulse of the thing. . . . an expert storyteller. of the rarest. and purest kind.” —nayyirah waheed, author of salt. From the celebrated poet Yrsa Daley-Ward, a poignant collection of poems about the heart, life, and the inner self. Foreword by Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy: An American Memoir Bone. Visceral. Close to. Stark. The poems in Yrsa Daley-Ward’s collection bone are exactly that: reflections on a particular life honed to their essence—so clear and pared-down, they become universal. From navigating the oft competing worlds of religion and desire, to balancing society’s expectations with the raw experience of being a woman in the world; from detailing the experiences of growing up as a first generation black British woman, to working through situations of dependence and abuse; from finding solace in the echoing caverns of depression and loss, to exploring the vulnerability and redemption in falling in love, each of the raw and immediate poems in Daley-Ward’s bone resonates to the core of what it means to be human. “You will come away bruised. You will come away bruised but this will give you poetry.”

bone

madina

Athena Eloy

Fantastic collection of poems and prose. The prose interludes were the most captivating instances of Daley-Ward's unique magic. Highly recommend reading this!

celeste

una colección de poemas que te hace reflexionar ya que trata sobre diversos temas importantes como la religión, la homofobia, la transfobia, el racismo, el abuso sexual, entre otros.
muy recomendable.

Jessica 

Blog | Twitter | Instagram | As a note, a physical copy of this novel was sent to me via the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinion in any way. Thank you. 

Yrsa Daley-Ward is no stranger to expressive prose and Bone is a firm nod to this. In just a few pages, readers of all ages will be compelled by her poetry and the bluntness she portrays life in small passages. From hard-to-handle, to perfectly-accurate, to some combination of the both; Daley-Ward is one of the most phenomenal talents to come to the world of modern poetry. I'm just stating facts. 

I've said it multiple times, but I'll say it again: 2017 has been such a brilliant year in terms of what's been published to the genre. Poetry is not for everyone, but the intimacy that Daley-Ward portrays should be. It should be at the top of your list. It should be at the top of the "best of" lists. I kid you not when I say that she packs a serious punch and if you guys could see how much I highlighted in my galley, you'd know I'm not exaggerating. 

Much like Depression & Other Magic Tricks, The Chaos of Longing, peluda and The Princess Saves Herself in this One, Yrsa Daley-Ward provides the community with a voice that was desperately needed. When she feels, she writes, and we feel. It's not simple but it's not complex. 

What I loved most about Bone was its frank portrayal of sex and a turbulent way of growing up. Poets bare their souls daily but Daley-Ward bares her souls and her bones for her work and it shows in every thought provoking line. Readers will be left breathless and, perhaps, feel a bit more understood by the end of Bone. 

Every expression, every line, every word, every nod--the good, the bad and the inbetweens is prone to explosion in Bone and it's one of the most beautiful but poignant explosions you will know. I can't express how much Bone meant to me. I can only praise it until I'm blue in the face.

Leila

Sharon

kelsey

sash.

andrea valentina 

Yasmin

vive

Kate Lillie

Chrystal Giordano

Emily

Shona Tiger

Ana Hein

'Honest, unflinching and unforgettable... one of Britain's best writers' Stormzy 'You will come away bruised. You will come away bruised but this will give you poetry.' Raw and stark, the poems in Yrsa Daley-Ward's breakthrough collection strip down her reflections on the heart, life, the inner self, coming of age, faith and loss to their essence. They resonate to the core of experience. 'Yrsa's work is like holding the truth in your hands. A glorious living thing' Florence Welch 'yrsa daley-ward's 'bone' is a symphony of breaking and mending. 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.' nayyirah waheed. author of salt. and nejma

Bone

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