Book of the Month: Rupi Kaur’s “home body”

“It was written as a love letter to the self – a reminder that we must always take the time to fill up on love, acceptance and community. We cant make it anywhere alone. We need each other. Together, a better world is possible.”

Rupi Kaur has become a local, regional, and global success spreading her stories in verse to women around the world. Born in India, Rupi immigrated to Canada at four and has blossomed into a best-selling poet, artist, and performer. Her first poetry collection “milk and honey” was self-published when Rupi was a university student and she quickly gained both fans and critics because of her bold style and unique take on the genre. After her debut book became an international phenomenon and landed at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, her next book “the sun and her flowers” solidified Rupi Kaur as a household name. 

Now, in her third book “home body” the OG of Instagram poetry has done it again bringing an intimate story to her fans that connects the everyday experiences of love, loss, struggle, trauma, migration, anxiety, depression, and womanhood in an accessible way. Taking the craft of poetry and reimagining it in a way that is approachable to the everyday person has opened a new world for many readers—this book is the perfect way to ground oneself in the aftermath of 2020. The book’s central theme came as a result of Rupi’s unimaginable success and the pressure to outdo herself. Going from a self-published author to an international icon almost overnight can weigh on even the strongest of people. Her struggle with mental health trapped her in a cycle of self-doubt and opening up about these all too common issues allowed the poet to overcome her darkest days. Talking about the journey leading up to the release of “home body” Kaur said, “I realized that unless I [talked about it], I was never going to be able to write anything else. I tried to avoid it. Because I think none of it made sense to me, like, why am I depressed? My life is going in such beautiful directions, I had no reason to be. I think I struggled with that for such a long time. And that was the wall that I was hitting creatively.”

If you are a fan of Rupi Kaur’s work or want to read her for the first time, “home body” is a Flair 2021 must-read for many reasons. Kaur’s work transcends time and place and hits the reader’s heartstrings because of the universal themes. “Home body” was more of a personal journey but it was released at the perfect time when so many are feeling uncertain and isolated as the pandemic looms on. Through her poetry and illustrations, Kaur helps readers celebrate life, the good, the bad, and the ugly.