![]() We might wonder why Kaur, who’s brand is built around supporting women, inspiring women, and articulating women’s issues, has decided to go after a woman who she’s never even met. Kaur predicts that the addressee’s next girlfriend “will be a bootleg version of who i am.” (Side note: Kaur appears to have an inexplicable aversion to capital letters). But the next glaring aspect of this piece is its rather ugly tone. For Rupi “hit-the-enter-key-at-irregular-intervals” Kaur, this is practically radical experimentalism. The first thing I noticed about this poem was its form: a single block of text. As an example, we need only look at her most recently uploaded poem: However, Kaur’s reliance on a fundamental idea, as opposed to good writing, comes with its own drawbacks. Indeed, I imagine Kaur herself is well aware that it is her message, rather than her art, that does the numbers (I mentioned at the start that I think Kaur is an awful poet I also think that’s she’s an astute entrepreneur). ![]() That most people who follow her know very well that they aren’t reading innovative verse, but support her central ideas of feminist empowerment. The other argument, which, in my opinion, carries more weight, is that Rupi Kaur is not so much about the medium as the message. For someone on Instagram, it’s far more likely that their following of Kaur will lead them to discover accounts like Atticus, whose on-the-nose sententiousness makes Kaur’s poetry look like an enigma code. Yet I worry that the simplicity of Kaur’s work, its unabashed lack of intrigue, makes people less receptive to such complexity in other poems. And, I’m sure, some people have gone on to read more challenging and creative material since discovering Kaur. This argument characterises Kaur as a gateway poet, in the same way that a Good Christian Mum might characterise weed as the initial step towards a life of crack-fuelled hedonism. The first is that Kaur often acts as an introduction to poetry for young people. However, I have heard two arguments in support of her work more generally. I’ve yet to meet anyone who will earnestly defend the quality of Kaur’s writing. That she’s achieved such global fame (mainly through her Instagram presence) pays testament to our sorry habit of revering mediocrity, so long as it is easily digestible. Her cutesy, axiomatic style is almost entirely lacking in the mystery, invention, and force of language that, for me at least, make a great poem. I’ll start this piece with a disclaimer: I think Rupi Kaur is an awful poet.
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