(This post has been updated. The free image from two years ago I'd attached is no longer such, and I wasn't able to locate another one.)
Yrsa Daley-Ward. Award winning writer, poet, model & actor. Awesome creator whose writings on identity, mental health and race resonate deeply within me. She co-wrote Black Is King, a visual companion to The Lion King: The Gift that was curated by Beyoncé for the film The Lion King. Her book Bone reinvigorated my interest in poetry with its depth and breadth of content that spoke to me.
Yrsa is from northern England. She modeled for a while before spending three years in South Africa, feeling comfort in being around models that looked like her while expressing cultural diversity. It was there that she gained an audience for her poetry that focuses on identity, race, mental health and diversity. Her collection in Bone is especially vocal on the topic of depression, expressing her journey in honest, eloquent fashion. Her TED Talk entitled “Your Stories And You” is well worth a visit. Better yet: go there now. Come back here later. You know how to find this, but her talk in all heart and soul and love, and may walk you to your next open door.
Her Instagram account regularly features her works, and I’m always looking forward to her next creation. Her poetry traverses class and status and every other box that browsers and data brokers want to fit us neatly into. Lest we forget, we are more than that.
Her subsequent books, like The Terrible and The How, carry on her tradition of vulnerably sharing her creations, so that we too can know that those who struggle inside are not alone, not unique, and never deserve to be outcast. Love for all is all around.
Her Instagram poetry cultivates my creative spirit. During this March, I also recommend looking at @gregscloud , who has written amazing daily essays on mental health. A “one love” approach to disposing judgment goes a long way in helping others normalize their realities, thus letting our light of compassion shine upon them.
Find her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/yrsadaleyward
Find her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/YrsaOnThePage/
https://www.yrsadaleyward.com/