[7] 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.

Not long after returning to London in 2012, she was invited back to South Africa to work alongside the British Council, headlining two poetry festivals in Johannesburg.

First self-published in 2014, and subsequently issued by Penguin Books in 2017 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.

[20] Daley-Ward's work has appeared in many publications worldwide, including Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Dazed, Playboy and Notion.

[21][22] Daley-Ward's 2021 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".