Now, look at the link to Louise Glück reading her most famous poem, The Wild Iris- only five-thousand views. At the time this article was written, it had almost sixteen million views on YouTube. Take a closer look at Neil Hilborn’s OCD piece, the popular spoken word performance I linked above. This is a truth that the poetry community largely hasn’t accepted, but its resonance is found all over the internet. And, while I wish this weren’t true, it’s part of the reason why the people love Rupi Kaur’s work: it’s completely accessible.

Poetry has become something that people believe they need “to get” in order “to enjoy”. No one is standing around a classroom listening to Mozart asking their students if they “get it”. That poetry is a puzzle to figure out and they are worried that they are not smart enough to “get it”- how wild! Poetry has built up its gates to the point where its enjoyment is niche and those standing on the outside are afraid to enter, and I ask our readers, when did poetry develop such towering walls? People are more scared of William Blake than they are Mozart. Mostly, I get answers that are based around the fear of poetry itself. The other half of her fame, however, may come from a more unsettling truth, one that the poetry community still isn’t ready for.ĭuring these conferences with my students, I ask them what they’re worried about with starting the poetry course. I’m sure that half of Kaur’s fame comes from the internet’s cruel and inventive echo chamber, poking fun at the author’s delivery and approach. And, while I largely agree with this sentiment expressed by professors of poetry and literature, it’s time we take heed of the poetry (or “poetry”) that people are reading. But, around the Mona Lisa, I’m much quieter. I get it! Whenever I look at a Jackon Pollack painting I make sure to say to those around me “I can do that”. Professors, who have been studying poetry longer than I have been alive, take insult to Rupi Kaur being given the title of “poet” and grimace further when students cite her work as the only “poetry” that they know. Work that is so simple in its approach that most readers can’t imagine that her pieces took longer to write than it takes for someone to exhale on their computer’s keyboard. Between these ends of the spectrum lives Rupi Kaur’s work. Here’s a link to Rupi Kaur reading some of her work via Twitter and, frankly, I can understand why some people think it’s satire or work that shouldn’t be taken seriously: her performances and writing fall somewhere between lofty professorial readings and the heartfelt spoken pieces of Button Poetry: there’s Louise Glück reading her famous poem, T he Wild Iris, in all its bleak, dry, authority, and then there’s Neil Hilborn performing his emotionally driven elocutionary piece, OCD. But that seems to be the problem: poets have heard of Rupi Kaur and are upset to be put under the same umbrella. Really, it would be incredible if any poet hadn’t heard. It’s not surprising then that my students have heard of what, The New Republic calls, “The Writer of The Decade”. This makes it one of the most read collections of poetry of the last ten years. According to The New York Times, Rupi Kaur’s debut collection of poetry, Milk and Honey, since its release in 2014, has sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 77 different languages. Rupi Kaur (last name pronounced kor), if you don’t know, is a Canadian poet of Indian descent whose poems are famous for their short enjambment, simple illustrations, and direct approach in dealing with their subject. Suess or Shel Silverstein, some laugh, but most of these twenty-somethins’ say that they’ve at least read Rupi Kaur. Many students look away and mumble something about Dr. Eventually, there’s a little lull in conversation that pushes us towards a new question, “What poetry have you read?”. We talk about life, and passions, and how they would describe themselves if they couldn’t mention their family or where they’re from.

This is how we start our Intro to Poetry course: I cancel class and schedule individual conferences with the students.

Rupi kuar stole