Analyzing the Popularity and Impact of Rupi Kaur's Poetry

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of Rupi Kaur's poetry, focusing on her debut collection, "Milk and Honey." It examines the reasons behind her widespread popularity, considering factors such as her accessible style, social media presence, and the themes she explores, which include love, trauma, and misogyny. The essay presents arguments both in favor of and against her popularity, citing opinions from various critics and readers. Proponents highlight her ability to attract young readers and address relevant societal issues, while detractors question the originality and depth of her work, as well as the potential for negative consequences stemming from her rapid rise to fame. The essay concludes by acknowledging the duality of her impact, recognizing both the positive aspects of her widespread appeal and the potential for critical limitations in her future work.

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Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note
Poems of Rupi Kaur
Rupi Kaur is the name of an Indian born Canadian author and poet who lives in
Canada. The author is well known for the collection of prose and poems which she had
written in her debut book, which she had written, titled Milk and Honey. Although published
in the year 2014, the book and the poems and the proses contained in the book has made
some people question that whether the popularity of the author is good for her poetry or will
it have negative consequences in the future. Critics like Hayden Church actually think that
she is actually overrated and her glamour and outward personality accounts for much of her
fame, rather than critical evaluation of her works (Church: 2019). This is what the essay will
try to discuss by making an analysis of the book and the poetry which is there.
The purpose of this essay is to find out the idea whether Rupi Kaur’ popularity is
a good thing or whether it will have negative consequences into her work itself. The
essay will also try to find out in what ways this popularity is going to have a negative
consequence on both the author as well as the works written by her.
It is probably well known to the readers of the essay that the book Milk and Honey,
which was written by Rupi Kaur and published in the year 2014, has raised lot of questions
from one section of the readers themselves (Kaur:2017). In this regard, contemporary article
writer Simran Singh thinks that Milk and Honey has broken the conventions of traditional

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poetry, jumping between first as well as second person pronouns and also disregarded the
clause of grammar as well as punctuation (Singh: 2019). These groups of readers are of the
opinion that the popularity of the author is good. However, there are another group of the
readers who have started the fact that the popularity of the author might have negative
consequences on the works which she will write in the future. However in spite of the
negative feedback from the sections of the readers and the critics themselves, it can be said
that the popularity of the author is going to be good for her. In fact Hayden Church, one of
the greatest critics of contemporary off stream poetry, acknowledges that her exposure lays
down the foundation that makes her work visible and acceptable to readers. There are a
number of reasons for this. First of all, it has been accepted by the readers themselves that her
author is one of the fast rising and popular author and poet of the modern century
(Kaur:2017). This has been evidenced by the poetry written by the author which has become
instantly popular among the readers themselves(Quillan:2018). In addition to this, her social
media presence, which is evidenced by the short poems available on her Instagram account
also attracts a large number of readers to these poems itself (Kaur:2017). In addition to this,
the poems which she writes deals with a number of themes which ranges from those of
misogyny and love to the themes of sexual violence as well as trauma itself(Jenin:2018).
Also, the female readers are more attracted to the author/cum poet because of her writings
bearing the qualities of John Green-esque literature scene. However, Tara Kelsey of The
Rowan University is of the opinion that many of the readers who are engrossed with her
poetry are actually oversensitive because of the picturesque rendition of her poems over
Instagram and invites eminent critics to make constructive criticism of her poetry, which the
“oversensitive weirdoes” as she states, are not able to do (Kelsey: 2019). This has naturally
made her popular and had turned into a favourite author and poet for the readers themselves.

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In this regard, it would be of worth to mention the fact that a number of critics are
supporting the poems written in Instagram and in other social media sites itself. Priya Khaira-
Hanks, in sharp contrast, opines that after observing the pattern of criticism Rupi Kaur
invites, has stated that her trademark fragmented free verse makes her easy prey for online
sceptics.
This is because of the fact that although it is said that her poems receive negative
backlash from the people, few critics appreciate her poems because these poems attract the
teenagers (Kaur:2017). Thus, it can be said that the author/poet is responsible for getting
young people/ teenagers to start reading poems and proses. It has already established the
author as a teen icon in the world itself. In addition to this, the poems written by the poet has
not only resulted in the sale of her books but also has attracted the attention of a lot of readers
towards the poetry and prose itself (Elizabeth:10).
Another pointy in favour of the works of Rupi Kaur is the varying themes that her
works deals with. IN this context, Hariet Staff, of The Guardian is of the opinion that rather
than targeting the trademark fragmented free verse of Kaur’s, critics should focus on the
plaintive voice of the poet (Staff: 2019). He argues that although Kaur has been able to
maintain a fine line between accessibility and over-simplicity, she often stumbles on to the
latter. Most of her poems talks about the issues which women face in their daily lives itself
(Kaur:2017). Thus, it is a good way of informing and introducing the readers to the
conditions of the society which they also have to face for themselves once they grow up. The
critics support the works of Rupi Kaur based on these grounds itself.
“i am a museum full of art
but you had your eyes shut”

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There are also other reasons why it is being said that the popularity of the author is
going to be good for her. This is because of the fact that the more popular the author
becomes, it will attract more and more readers to her writings, which will help her poems to
be read by a large number of readers themselves(Quillan:2018). Moreover, there are readers
who claims that the works written by the author urges the readers to question about the male
dominated society and how the people who are a part of that society had to endure the various
societal pressures and other hardships and difficulties for themselves in such a society
(Kaur:2017). The author raises the issue of equality between both the genders through the
works which she writes, thus attracting a large number of the readers in the process itself.
Again, in this regard, Buzzfeed critic Chiara Giovanni argues that in comparison to the
complex of level of works of Nayyirah Waheed, Lang Leav, and, to a lesser extent, Warsan
Shire, her themes are more accessible and hence her bite sized works reaches a larger
segment of audiences (Giovanni: 2019). All these are some of the reason why the readers of
her works are of the opinion that the poems and the proses which are written by the author are
the main reasons for the popularity of the author itself. Hence, it can be said that the
popularity of the author and the poet can be said to be good for her future works
itself(Elizabeth:10).
“do not look for healing
at the feet of those
who broke you”
However, there are other readers and critics who are of the opinion that the popularity
which the author has for such a young age might turn out to have a negative consequence on
the poems and the proses which she would write in the future. There are also a number of
reasons for the negative consequences on the author ad her future works. The reason for this

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has been mentioned by the critics and the readers themselves. One of the reasons why this
popularity can have negative consequences on the author is because of the fact that a lot of
readers have pointed out the way in which the author presents her thoughts and opinions in
her poems seems to be very premature and very basic (Kaur:2017). In other words, it can be
said that the thoughts which she have presented in the poems in the book Milk and Honey,
does not offer anything new to the readers themselves. Secondly, some critics also point out
the fact that the author and the poet is not showing any innovation to the readers through the
work that she is creating in her books (Kaur:2017). These critics, also point out the fact that
the author is merely letting her readers know about the issues which she is presenting to them
in her book. However, critical comparison has been drawn many times with works of Rupi
Kaur’s and Warsan Shire’s where the illustrative representation of the sensitive themes like
sexism, trauma, sexual violence and so on are more alluding, only because of the simplicity
of rendition. Illustrative representations like the following, highly attracts the readers:
Image 1: Excerpts from Milk and Honey

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(Source: Kaur, 2019)
An author can only be considered to be a good author of the topic which he/ she presents in
his/her works are able to make the readers think deeply about the topic that he/she is talking
about. This, however is missing in the case of the book written by the author herself. It based
on this topic itself that a lot of people are pointing their negativity to the author ad her works
itself.
The other reasons why the works by the author is gaining negativity is because of the
target readers of hr poems and the proses which she writes. Although, the author needs to be
appreciated for getting young people to start reading poems and proses itself, stillit is said by
a number of experts itself that the main target readers for the works of Rupi Kaur are mostly
considered to be the teenage girls (Kaur:2017). It is difficult for the teenagers to think deeply
on the type of subject matters which she have presented in the books. In addition to this, the
author have also been accused of plagiarism and being vague about the issues of racism and
sexism in spite of urging the females of the society to accept the hardships which they
regularly face for themselves. The third reason for the author facing negativity and negative
consequences in her books and poems itself is because of the fact that the author is a woman
of hence, the claims which she is making in the books and the poems written by her are not
getting much noticed in the Western world itself (Kaur:2017). It is because of this reason it
can be said that the popularity of the author has both positive as well as negative
consequences,
Thus, from the above discussions, it can be concluded by the readers that the
author/poet Rupi Kaur and her popularity seems to have both positive as well as negative
consequences. While it is true that her writings attract a large number of teenage readers

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themselves, at the same time, it can also be said that the lack of ideas paces negative
consequences and criticisms into the works which have been written by her.

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Reference List
Church, Hayden. "Sorry, Everyone, But Rupi Kaur Is Overrated". Medium, 2019,
https://medium.com/@churchhayden6/sorry-everyone-but-rupi-kaur-is-overrated-
ae77e3685d1. Accessed 8 Aug 2019.
Elizabeth, Angela. "For the love of poetry." Books+ Publishing 97.4 (2018): 10.
Giovanni, Chiara. "The Problem With Rupi Kaur's Poetry". Buzzfeednews.Com, 2019,
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/chiaragiovanni/the-problem-with-rupi-kaurs-poetry.
Accessed 8 Aug 2019.
Kaur, R. (2017). milk and honey-milch und honig. Lago.
Kelsey, Tara. "Yes, You CAN Criticize 'Milk And Honey'". The Odyssey Online, 2019,
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/criticize-milk-honey. Accessed 7 Aug 2019.
McQuillan, David. Aesthetic Scandal and Accessibility: The Subversive Simplicity of Rupi Kaur’s
milk and honey. Diss. 2018.
Naji, Jeneen. "The Posthuman Poetics of Instagram Poetry." (2018).
Singh, Simran. "Review Of Rupi Kaur's 'Milk And Honey'". Owlcation, 2019,
https://owlcation.com/humanities/Critical-Analysis-of-Rupi-Kaurs-Milk-and-Honey.
Accessed 8 Aug 2019.
Staff, Hariett. "Meditations On Rupi Kaur's Critics By Harriet Staff". Poetry Foundation, 2019,
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2017/10/meditations-on-rupi-kaurs-critics.
Accessed 8 Aug 2019.