Rupi Kaur

At 32 years old, Rupi Kaur has this physical status:

Kaur first began performing poetry in 2009. Although she found spoken-word poetry "really natural", describing her first show as "Like a damn hug", she'd fidget with the paper above her face, leaving before audiences clapped due to her anxiety. Her poetry at first received a lukewarm reception, having been told that she was too aggressive for certain venues or made some people uncomfortable. "So many people around me early on thought it was absolutely ridiculous". Kaur started writing in an attempt to articulate her personal trauma, having just left an abusive relationship – which influenced her decision to perform poetry: "I wanted to find a voice, because I had been voiceless for so long". At university, her writing became more reflective than before, having previously written about boys she liked and the political changes she wanted to see in the world – although she was, by her own admission, ignorant on the matter, her poems at first lambasted the Canadian government. Kaur would often be in conflict with her parents over her choice to pursue poetry.

Throughout high school, Kaur shared her writing anonymously. She took the stage surname of Kaur because "Kaur is the name of every Sikh woman – brought in to eradicate the caste system in India – and I thought, wouldn't it be empowering if a young Kaur saw her name in a book store?". From 2013 onward, she began sharing her work without a pseudonym on Tumblr before moving to Instagram in 2014 where she started adding simple illustrations. Around this time, she began to garner a cult following and, at times, had 600 attendees at her shows, her career, thus far, having been subject to "[almost] word of mouth". Her first poem posted on Instagram regarded a wife coping with her husband's alcoholism; she described the experience as cathartic.

At first submitted her poetry to literary anthologies, magazines and journals, to little success. Kaur's first book, Milk and Honey, was self-published on Createspace on 4 November 2014, after she begun work at age 18. She created the poems in Milk and Honey "entirely for [herself], with zero concept of book in mind", and sold more than 10,000 copies. Kaur recalled that she was hesitant to submit to magazines or journals because it "felt like I was taking apart [Milk and Honey] and throwing things at different walls, hoping they would stick. I feel like it only made sense when it was [collected] because this is a body of work".

In March 2015, as a part of her university photography project, Kaur – intending to challenge prevalent societal menstrual taboos and the objectification of women – posted a series of photographs to Instagram depicting herself with menstrual blood stains on her clothing and bed sheets. Internet trolls harassed Kaur over the photos, which were twice removed for not complying with the site's terms of service; Kaur claimed that she was not notified beforehand or given a reason and criticised their censorship as misogynistic and reaffirming what she sought to condemn – deeming the act an "attack on my humanity". Instagram apologized and brought back the images, citing a mistaken removal.

Her response went viral, credited with bringing Kaur more followers and leading to the subsequent rise in popularity of her poetry. She later regretted writing her response, finding widespread disdain affected her mental health, experiencing anxiety that "sort of set in and never really left" and suicidal thoughts for a period of time. That same year, she wrote 10 chapters of a yet unpublished novel.

As Kaur rose to prominence on social media, Milk and Honey was re-released by Andrews McMeel Publishing, which saw her work alongside an editor for the first time. It became a "blockbuster" success and, as of 2017, has sold 2.5 million copies worldwide and translated into 25 languages – the same year, it was the best-selling book in Canada. During a poetry reading in 2015, Kaur, upon seeing a line of her fans that extended four street blocks, fully realised the extent of her audience and grew more confident in her poetry as a result. She performed a TED Talk the next year. Kirsty Melville, publisher and president of AMP, credits the book's success with Kaur's connection to her readers.

At age 22, she employed seven people to aid her, as a part of a company she founded. While writing, her team often manages her social media. She would later describe the success of Milk and Honey as surreal, noting a deeply sentimental and inspiring attachment.

Following a three-month writing trip in California, and in the same year as her induction into the Brampton Arts Walk of Fame, Kaur's second book, The Sun and Her Flowers, was published, on 3 October 2017. She views it as a "one long continuous poem that goes on for 250 pages", "which while birthed in Instagram, is a concept that depends on being bound". As of 2020, the book has sold upwards of a million copies and has been translated into multiple languages. In 2018, she made nearly $1.4 million from poetry sales. That same year, she performed at the Jaipur Literary Festival: "It was as if I had waited my whole life for this moment. It was my only show, where I wasn't nervous. The crowd was energetic."

While touring the world, she experienced feelings of depression and anxiety. The process of creating The Sun and Her Flowers and trying to replicate her success affected her mental health, reporting "furious 12-hour [writing] stretches" and 72-hour migraines. She experienced months of writer's block and frustration at her work, ultimately calling its creation the "greatest challenge of my life". Following its release, she dealt with feelings of burnout – writing the poem "Timeless" in response. These feelings began to subside as she viewed them as transient – aided by Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic, which she said "saved my life". By early 2019, she entered therapy to ease her depression and anxiety.

That year, she was commissioned by Penguin Classics to write an introduction for a new edition of Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet, in anticipation of that book entering the public domain in the United States and performed at the London Book Fair. Kaur considers Gibran an influence and has dubbed The Prophet her "life bible".

Kaur released her new poetry collection, entitled Home Body, on 17 November 2020. The collection featured illustrations from Kaur and became one of the best-selling books of 2020. Intent with feeling less pressure for commercial profit, Kaur reached out to fellow authors for guidance – having felt imposter syndrome during its creation due to Milk and Honey's success. She begun work in 2018, during a time of depression and concluded the process amidst a period of introspection, a by-product of the COVID-19 pandemic, as is Home Body, in Kaur's eyes.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kaur moved back in to her parents' house in Brampton and began teaching workshops on Instagram Live, due to feelings of loneliness and fear and a desire to connect with her audience. To her students, she emphasizes a natural and therapeutic approach to writing.

She self-released a poetry special, Rupi Kaur Live, consisting of poetry readings and anecdotes accompanied by visuals and music, in April 2021, after it was turned down by streaming services – Kaur acknowledged that it was an atypical prospect. By August that year it had been released on Amazon Prime in a limited capacity. Explaining the impetus, Kaur recalled her separation of performance and prose, attempting to hide the former, and how her eventual marriage of the two styles "in maybe 2016" allowed the show to occur. In 2021, she performed as a part of a tribute to Jack Layton.

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