Featured Poet: Rupi Kaur

SIMRAN BATRA

As April is both Sikh Heritage Month and National Poetry Month, it is fitting to highlight the work of Rupi Kaur, a Sikh-Canadian poet, writer and artist whose works have influenced millions of readers worldwide.

Born in Punjab, India, Rupi Kaur immigrated to Canada with her family when she was four years old. Her traditional upbringing in a Sikh household profoundly influenced her writing, which she incorporates through themes of spirituality, culture, and identity in her poetry. She first gained recognition through her self-published debut collection “milk and honey,” which became a New York Times best seller in 2015. Her minimalist poetry style, often accompanied by her illustrations, explores the raw emotions of love, heartbreak, trauma, and healing. Her writing has been praised for its relatability and accessibility, particularly to younger generations, and has become a source of inspiration for women and people of colour.

What makes Rupi Kaur unique is that she gained popularity through Instagram. Known as one of the most famous “Instapoets” of this generation, she was pushed into the limelight after Instagram banned a self-portrait photograph of her, in which she was lying in a bed with menstrual blood-stained sheets. She took a stand against Instagram and gained a huge following of almost 1.3 million followers, and has been growing ever since.

Kaur’s work reflects her Sikh heritage; she incorporates the Punjabi language and culture into her poetry. Her writing explores the complexities of being a Punjabi-Sikh woman growing up in a Western world, addressing themes of displacement, assimilation, and cultural preservation.

Along with her poetry, Rupi Kaur is a social activist, using her platform to raise awareness about issues such as gender-based violence and immigration. She provides a voice to people often silenced or marginalized. One instance is when she started the period-positive campaign to destigmatize menstruation and provide menstrual products to those in need. Rupi Kaur now has three bestselling books, “milk and honey,” “the sun and her flowers,” and “homebody,” along with a fill-in-the-blank journal called “Healing Through Words.”

Through National Poetry Month, it is necessary to recognize the contributions of poets like Rupi Kaur, who use their art to express themselves and explore the boundaries of poetry as we know it. Her work has captured the hearts of readers globally and inspired a new generation of writers to embrace their voices and tell their stories.