UO Exclusive: Rupi Kaur On Her New Book, Home Body
Rupi Kaur's illustrated poetry has amassed fans across the globe since her self-published debut anthropology, Milk and Honey. Her hotly anticipated third book Home Body is out now and is everything we hoped for and more. We caught up with Rupi to discuss Home Body and find out what written word brings her joy and the best advice she's ever been given.
Photographer: Amrita Singh
You shared with your followers that to you, ‘home’ and ‘body’ are synonymous and that the colour of the cover is inspired by the colour of your foundation (love this!). Do you think this is your most personal work to date and how has your creative self-expression evolved since Milk and Honey and The Sun and Her Flowers?
I think this collection is as personal as milk and honey. Some have said it feels more personal, more honest, more raw, but I don’t know! Haha hard to compare, I think everyone will have their own opinion on it. I’d say that over the years I’ve dealt with more fears and self-doubt when it comes to creativity than I did when I was younger. Writing home body was me battling those fears head on and overcoming them, and I think by the time you get to the last chapter of the book, awake, you can really feel that.
You document and share your creative process with your followers. Does real-time dialogue with your audience help inform and shape the themes and experiences you speak to in your work?
The themes I write about are usually always shaped by my personal journey. Where I am in my life. What I’m struggling with. I am a very empathetic person so, of course, I am deeply affected by the state of the world - as so many of us are. This makes it impossible to ignore the current social and political climate we’re in. Whether we’re talking about environmental issues or the anxieties around social issues which have been largely ignored by those in power, I use writing as a tool to confront those anxieties. I fell in love with poetry because it’s such a soothing and magical medium. It has the ability to instil hope and beauty into the pain and suffering.
If you had to choose, which poem in this collection holds particular significance to you and why?
Lifetime on the road: It’s a longer prose piece that documents my father’s work as a truck driver. It’s a homage to how much he had to sacrifice in order to feed us.
As the global pandemic continues to affect all our lives, did you find writing during this turbulent time freeing or restricting in any way?
A large chunk of home body had already been written pre-pandemic - but about half was formed while being in quarantine. I was living in New York and came back to Canada to quarantine with my family because I’m a Canadian citizen.
The last time the six of us (my parents and siblings) were together like this was a decade ago!!! I didn’t know what to expect. Would I be inspired? Would they drive me up the wall as families do? I was surprised to find that it was creatively freeing. With nowhere to go and no one to meet, all I could do was work on the book, without the fear of missing out.
For once, everyone was on my day to day work schedule: which is working from home haha. I think that routine and the way the world slowed down, forcing us to be present became the essence of home body. Within that stillness, I could no longer run away from the things that were clawing to come out of me.
For years I wanted to write about my struggle with depression, I wanted to write about my struggle with work, and not feeling like anything I did was enough. But I didn’t write about those themes because I didn’t think it would be interesting. However, when the pandemic hit and everything shut down, and I was finally still after a turbulent 5 years of being on the road, and what matters most in the world became very obvious. It rose to the surface and went right into my work.
From self-publishing your first book to where you are now, have you had to learn to trust your instincts through success or have you always had the courage to just go for it?
I actually think the girl I was at 21 who self-published was a lot more fearless and courageous than I am now. It may be because that girl was naive and not expecting anything. She didn’t even live in a world where all of this was possible. She did it because it was fun. I doubt myself now a lot more than she would, but that’s probably because I know how much is possible, and it feels like there’s a lot more to lose. And that’s not a bad thing. Perhaps it’s just awareness, and it’s totally okay to feel those fears as long as they don’t drive your decisions. Instinct and courage still drive everything I do.
What’s your biggest takeaway from 2020?
We are one.
What single word brings you joy when you see it on a page?
Coffee
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
When your thoughts get into that spiral of self-sabotage ask yourself: “Is this useful?” and use that question as the anchor to walk yourself back to something that is.
Grab your copy of Home Body now!
I think this collection is as personal as milk and honey. Some have said it feels more personal, more honest, more raw, but I don’t know! Haha hard to compare, I think everyone will have their own opinion on it. I’d say that over the years I’ve dealt with more fears and self-doubt when it comes to creativity than I did when I was younger. Writing home body was me battling those fears head on and overcoming them, and I think by the time you get to the last chapter of the book, awake, you can really feel that.
You document and share your creative process with your followers. Does real-time dialogue with your audience help inform and shape the themes and experiences you speak to in your work?
The themes I write about are usually always shaped by my personal journey. Where I am in my life. What I’m struggling with. I am a very empathetic person so, of course, I am deeply affected by the state of the world - as so many of us are. This makes it impossible to ignore the current social and political climate we’re in. Whether we’re talking about environmental issues or the anxieties around social issues which have been largely ignored by those in power, I use writing as a tool to confront those anxieties. I fell in love with poetry because it’s such a soothing and magical medium. It has the ability to instil hope and beauty into the pain and suffering.
If you had to choose, which poem in this collection holds particular significance to you and why?
Lifetime on the road: It’s a longer prose piece that documents my father’s work as a truck driver. It’s a homage to how much he had to sacrifice in order to feed us.
As the global pandemic continues to affect all our lives, did you find writing during this turbulent time freeing or restricting in any way?
A large chunk of home body had already been written pre-pandemic - but about half was formed while being in quarantine. I was living in New York and came back to Canada to quarantine with my family because I’m a Canadian citizen.
The last time the six of us (my parents and siblings) were together like this was a decade ago!!! I didn’t know what to expect. Would I be inspired? Would they drive me up the wall as families do? I was surprised to find that it was creatively freeing. With nowhere to go and no one to meet, all I could do was work on the book, without the fear of missing out.
For once, everyone was on my day to day work schedule: which is working from home haha. I think that routine and the way the world slowed down, forcing us to be present became the essence of home body. Within that stillness, I could no longer run away from the things that were clawing to come out of me.
For years I wanted to write about my struggle with depression, I wanted to write about my struggle with work, and not feeling like anything I did was enough. But I didn’t write about those themes because I didn’t think it would be interesting. However, when the pandemic hit and everything shut down, and I was finally still after a turbulent 5 years of being on the road, and what matters most in the world became very obvious. It rose to the surface and went right into my work.
From self-publishing your first book to where you are now, have you had to learn to trust your instincts through success or have you always had the courage to just go for it?
I actually think the girl I was at 21 who self-published was a lot more fearless and courageous than I am now. It may be because that girl was naive and not expecting anything. She didn’t even live in a world where all of this was possible. She did it because it was fun. I doubt myself now a lot more than she would, but that’s probably because I know how much is possible, and it feels like there’s a lot more to lose. And that’s not a bad thing. Perhaps it’s just awareness, and it’s totally okay to feel those fears as long as they don’t drive your decisions. Instinct and courage still drive everything I do.
What’s your biggest takeaway from 2020?
We are one.
What single word brings you joy when you see it on a page?
Coffee
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
When your thoughts get into that spiral of self-sabotage ask yourself: “Is this useful?” and use that question as the anchor to walk yourself back to something that is.
Grab your copy of Home Body now!