MILK AND HONEY - RUPI KAUR

Rupi Kaur’s ‘milk and honey’ is one of few commercially popular works of poetry in recent years. It is her debut work and no one had anticipated it would get such global popularity. Upon publication ‘milk and honey’ sold over 1.5 million copies, defying all modern poetry expectations. If you look at the current literary landscape, statistics will tell you that works that sell include celebrity memoirs and tell alls, thriller novels and sci-fi, this poetry collection clearly is outstanding.

Critics have however looked down upon this unchallenging ‘Instapoetry’, popular largely due to following modern poetry aesthetics. The author uses lower case, free verse and abstract art in the book, which goes against the conventional presentation of poetry. Whether long-term or not, ‘milk and honey’ is undeniably popular.

Perhaps this is due to Kaur undercutting the impersonality of a modernist aesthetic with accessible, simplistic language. Kaur does not subscribe to the belief that poetry must be difficult to be meaningful, championing a direct and inclusive register that unites her personal experiences with the reader. Kaur’s works is testament to the statement that says ‘simplicity is key’, her poetry is straight to the point.

As you read through, you will realise that she combines a first person perspective with the repeated first person pronoun ‘you’. She then goes and extra mile by bridging the gap between her poetry and audience by creating a link that forces the reader to imagine themselves as a