From Milk and Honey to The Sun and Her Flowers and now Home Body, Rupi Kaur's poetry has taken the internet by storm! Find out everything you need to know about one of Instagram's most loved poets.
As a creative, it’s important to keep inspired and have other artists in your field whose work you admire and enjoy. Through this, you’ll find other people you can relate to, network with and even collaborate with!
For this reason, I’ll be featuring fellow poets I enjoy, as a poet myself. So, for those of you who are into poetry, you’ll be able to discover new poets to keep an eye on, poetry books to read, and inspiring content to watch! It doesn’t get much better than that.
In the first post of this series, I'm featuring renowned instapoet Rupi Kaur.
Who is Rupi Kaur?
For most, the name Rupi Kaur already rings a bell. With a strong 4.1m following on the website, you'll have probably already seen many of her poems featuring her artwork on your Instagram feed. Short, snappy quotes that most can relate to. Her style of poetry is unique and distinct amongst the wealth of instapoets we have today.
Get to know more about Rupi Kaur
Rupi Kaur is a well known Canadian poet, performer and artist. She is of Indian descent and now resides in Toronto.
Kaur writes succinct and straightforward poetry touching on a range of topics including love, trauma, heartbreak, sexuality, womanhood and more. Her simple and very accessible style of writing has made Kaur a sensation in the world of Instagram poetry. She proclaims the beauty of self-love and self-care with her short and snappy affirmations.
Along with her poetry, Rupi Kaur creates fine line illustrations that easily relate to and exemplify the words she writes. Find out more about her and her work in this post.
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Everything you need to know about Insta Poet Rupi Kaur
Rupi Kaur's Poetry Books
Rupi Kaur has currently written three poetry books including: Milk and Honey (2014), The Sun and Her Flowers (2017) and Home Body (2020).
Her debut poetry book Milk and Honey was self-published and initially released in 2014. In 2015, it was re-released by Andrews McMeel Publishing. The book has now sold more than 3.5 million copies globally and has been translated into around 40 different languages. This makes Rupi Kaur's debut the best-selling poetry book since The Odyssey by Homer.
The Sun and Her Flowers is Rupi Kaur's second poetry book, released in October 2017. The book has been listed in the New York Times Best Seller list for over 76 weeks. During the 2020 pandemic, Rupi Kaur published her third poetry book titled Home Body which reached number one on the New York Times best seller list for fiction.
In her poetry books, Kaur writes on a number of themes including identity, heritage, love, healing and more. Find out more about all of Rupi Kaur's poetry books below and enjoy a free Amazon Kindle e-book preview!
Home Body by Rupi Kaur
Rupi Kaur constantly embraces growth, and in home body, she walks readers through a reflective and intimate journey visiting the past, the present and the potential of the self. home body is a collection of raw, honest conversations with oneself - reminding readers to fill up on love, acceptance, community, family, and embrace change. illustrated by the author, themes of nature and nurture, light and dark, rest here.
The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur
From Rupi Kaur, the bestselling author of Milk and Honey, comes her long-awaited second collection of poetry. Illustrated by Kaur, The Sun and Her Flowers is a journey of wilting, falling, rooting, rising and blooming. It is a celebration of love in all its forms.
Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
Rupi Kaur's first book, Milk and Honey is the poetry collection every woman needs on her nightstand or coffee table. Accompanied by her own sketches, the beautifully honest poems read like the everyday, collective experiences of today's modern woman. Erin Spencer, Huffington Post.
What are Rupi Kaur books about?
Rupi Kaur writes on a number of topics including love, sexuality, heartbreak and more. Her poetry is often divided into sections that tell a story through the words and images on the page. She includes poems, prose, observations and illustrations in her poetry books which makes them very unique.
Which Rupi Kaur book is best?
Milk and Honey is perhaps Rupi Kaur's most popular and best sold book. Depending on your interests, you will enjoy each of Kaur's books differently.
A personal Words of Faith favourite is The Sun and Her Flowers. I enjoy this poetry book the most as I can see the growth in Kaur's writing style since her debut. The book is more engaging and easier to relate to.
Rupi Kaur Poetry Videos
As well as writing poetry, Rupi Kaur is a performer who readily reads her poems for multiple audiences. She has graced the stage of many notable events including GirlBoss and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
You can watch a selection of her poetry readings and performances below.
Timeless by Rupi Kaur
Watch: Rupi Kaur perform her poem Timeless
Milk and Honey poetry readings
Watch: Rupi Kaur perform work from her debut poetry book Milk and Honey
The Sun and Her Flowers poetry reading
Watch: Rupi Kaur perform work from her second poetry book
Rupi Kaur on TEDxKC
Watch: Rupi Kaur's TED Talk
As well as poetry readings, Kaur is a prominent speaker and is often interviewed for her perspective on issues such as feminism, sexuality and self-love. She has been interviewed by Emma Watson and has also given a TED talk.
Rupi Kaur Instagram Poetry
Kaur rose to prominence by sharing her poetry on Instagram. In her posts, she shares short poems and illustrations for a fan base of over 4 million users. You will probably be familiar with the visual style of her work and may recognise one of the posts below.
Enjoy this selection of some of Rupi Kaur's popular Instagram/poem posts.
Quotes by Rupi Kaur
Take a scroll through some of these short but insightful quotes by poet Rupi Kaur.
loneliness is a sign you are in desperate need of yourself.
how you love yourself is how you teach others to love you.
our backs tell stories no books have the spine to carry.
what is stronger than the human heart which shatters over and over and still lives.
you might not have been my first love but you were the love that made all the other loves irrelevant.
the thing worth holding onto would not have let go.
if you were born with the weakness to fall you were born with the strength to rise.
the right one does not stand in your way they make space for you to step forward.
you must want to spend the rest of your life with yourself first.
we all move forward when we recognize how resilient and striking the women around us are.
More about Rupi Kaur
Frequently Asked Questions
How did Rupi Kaur get famous?
Rupi Kaur rose to popularity in early 2015 when she posted pictures of herself with what looked like menstrual blood, stained on her bed sheets and clothes. This was part of a project she did whilst still an undergraduate student. Instagram initially removed the picture for not complying with their terms of service, however they since brought the images back. This is often seen as one of the reasons for Rupi Kaur's surge in following and popularity.
Since 2015, Kaur has: appeared on Jimmy Fallon, made the Forbes 30 under 30 list, been named as one of BBC's 100 women (2017) and noted as The New Republic's Writer of the Decade (2019). It is clear that her work has landed her a substantial presence in mainstream media.
Why does Rupi Kaur not use capitals?
Kaur states that her use of strictly lowercase is her way of honouring and paying homage to her Indian roots. As in Gurmukhi script (Punjabi), her work is written only in lowercase, with just a period as punctuation.
How did Rupi Kaur publish her first book?
Milk and Honey was first self-published on Createspace (now Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing) in 2014.
You can find out more about self-publishing and self-publishing a poetry book on this website.
What are people saying about Rupi Kaur?
Despite the division about the poetic quality of Rupi Kaur's work, it is clear that she has still made notable impact in her field. Read and watch below to find out more about what people are saying of Rupi Kaur and her poems.
"Kaur made her name with poems about love, life and grief. They resonate hugely." - Sunday Times
"Rupi Kaur's poetry communicates, distils life. Her success is a simply wonderful thing for poetry. Her work reveals how powerful and accessible poetry can be. It seems to help people too and is a fine example of the healing power of art." - Allie Esiri
"Caught the imagination of a large, atypical poetry audience… Kaur knows the good her poetry does: it saves lives." - Evening Standard
Video reviews of Rupi Kaur's poetry
Here are some diverse opinions of Rupi Kaur's poetry books. The videos may include 'spoilers' so I recommend reading the books yourself first to form your own personal opinion and interpretation of her poetry.
These videos do not represent the views of Words of Faith and are only listed here to show the varied response that all poetry is subject to!
Rupi Kaur's Website
Rupi Kaur is active on social media sites and her own personal website. You can find these details below to see all of her work, upcoming shows, interviews and more. She also sells merchandise including artwork and clothing on her website.
Website: www.rupikaur.com
Instagram: @rupikaur_
Facebook: Rupi Kaur Poetry
Twitter: @rupikaur_
Share your thoughts!
I hope this post has allowed you to find out more about Rupi Kaur and the popularity of her poetry. Feel free to share some of your thoughts in the comments below - do you enjoy Rupi Kaur's poetry? What are your favourite poems or books? Let's keep the conversation flowing!
- Faithful xoxo
About the Author:
Faith is a Birmingham based writer. She has a background in drama with a focus on writing poetry, blogs and more.
Through her work, she explores themes such as love, life, faith, passion and purpose. Faith is a true creative at heart and also enjoys videography and editing.
Her debut poetry book, Words of Faith, is available to purchase in store and on Amazon.
Contact: www.wordsoffaith.co.uk
Instagram: @faithdneto
Twitter: @faithdneto
Facebook: @faithdneto
YouTube: Faith Dias Neto
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