Rupi Kaur Canadian poet, illustrator, photographer and writer Date of Birth: 04.10.1992 Country: India

1. Early Life and Background
2. Educational Journey and Personal Struggles
3. Education and Writing Career
4. Rise to Prominence through Instapoetry (2013-2016)
5. "Milk and Honey" and Acclaim (2014-2016)

Early Life and Background

Born into a Sikh family in Punjab, India, on October 5, 1992, Rupi Kaur immigrated to Canada at the age of three with her parents to escape Sikh persecution. Her father, who left ahead due to hate crimes against Sikh men, was absent from her birth. Facing financial hardships, he sent essential items for Kaur's upbringing.

Living in a two-bedroom basement apartment with her parents and three younger siblings, they shared a single bed. Eventually, the family settled in Brampton, close to a large South Asian community and Kaur's father's job as a truck driver. While living in Japan, her father would write poetry for Kaur's mother, herself a painter. Kaur recalled poetry being an ever-present aspect of her faith, spirituality, and daily life: "There were nights when my father would sit for hours and just analyze one verse."

Educational Journey and Personal Struggles

Kaur's childhood was marked by shame over her mother's accent and a sense of detachment from her identity. Her relationship with her parents, especially her mother, became tumultuous during her adolescence. Witnessing domestic violence and sexual abuse within her family and community, and observing the racism her parents faced, contributed to her withdrawn nature. Her upbringing instilled in her a "perpetual survival mode."

Despite her aspirations of becoming a fashion designer, her father denied her schooling. She also considered careers in astronaut and social work, often shifting her ambitions. Interested in reading from an early age, she created collages incorporating images and words, drawing alongside poems, finding solace in their creation. Her interest was hindered by her status as an English second language learner, having only learned the language at age 10. The initial alienation from English rendered Kaur effectively mute for a period.

Throughout high school, she participated in speech competitions, winning one in seventh grade, which provided a sense of progress and hope amidst feelings of isolation and bullying. She found herself an easy target for ridicule due to her appearance and vulnerability. Her self-assurance began to grow after Grade 12, seeing writing as a means to "have a voice." She experienced an academic peak during her senior year, receiving what she perceived as toxic care. Ultimately, she found relief in distancing herself from people she described as "very dangerous for me."

Education and Writing Career

Kaur pursued rhetoric and professional writing at the University of Waterloo, tutoring high school and college students in writing while she studied. Exploring poetry, she "agonized over every word."

Rise to Prominence through Instapoetry (2013-2016)

While attending university, Kaur began performing poetry in 2009. She found spoken word "very natural," describing her first performance as "a fucking embrace," where she would fiddle with paper over her face and leave due to nervousness before the audience could applaud. Early receptions of her poetry were unwelcoming, with comments about her work being too aggressive for certain spaces or making some people uncomfortable. "A lot of the people that were around me in the beginning thought it was just ridiculous." She began writing as a way to express her trauma, coming out of an abusive relationship that influenced her decision to perform poetry. At university, her writing became more introspective than her earlier work, which had focused on crushes and political changes she wished to see in the world. Kaur often experienced conflict with her parents over her choice to pursue poetry.

Throughout high school, Kaur had shared her writing anonymously. She adopted the stage name Kaur because "Kaur is the name given to every Sikh woman who is called to end the caste system in India—and I thought, wouldn't it be encouraging for a young Kaur to see her name in a bookstore?" From 2013, she began posting her work unpseudonymously on Tumblr, transitioning to Instagram in 2014, where she began adding simple illustrations. Around this time, she began to gain a cult following, with her shows sometimes hosting audiences of 600 people. Her first Instagram post was a poem addressing a wife coping with her husband's alcoholism, an experience she described as cathartic.

"Milk and Honey" and Acclaim (2014-2016)

In 2014, Kaur self-published her debut collection, "Milk and Honey," a collection of poems divided into four chapters: "the hurting," "the loving," "the breaking," and "the healing." The book sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide, becoming a bestseller. Its success led to a revised commercial edition in 2015. The book received mixed reviews, with some praising its accessibility and emotional resonance, while others criticized its simplicity and repetitiveness. Despite the criticisms, Kaur's popularity surged, drawing comparisons to pop stars. She was featured in year-end lists by BBC and Elle, and The New Republic controversially dubbed her "the writer of the decade."