They say that the best way to make God laugh is to tell them your plans. And as the world has seen repeatedly over the last eighteen months, even the most well thought out and well-intentioned plans can be upended in an instant. As was the case for the American poet, Don Agey. In 2004, Agey’s wife, Kerri, died in a car accident on her way to work. And after four years in the navy and nearly twenty years working as a security officer for NASA, Agey was forced to retire early following an injury.
We featured Kathia’s poem “Fear of the Dark” in our latest anthology Light (The Soap Box: Volume IV), and we absolutely loved it! We decided to sit down with Kathia — from a safe physical distance, of course — to get to know her and her poetry better. Her conversation with Marcus began with what drove her to start writing in the first place.
Since 2013, poets have been posting their work using social media and photosharing platforms like Tumblr and Instagram. These posts typically consist of short poems or snippets of poems, written in plain language using aesthetically pleasing fonts and are sometimes accompanied by a picture or drawing. This is known as instapoetry and is written by instapoets. Ever since instapoets began popping up there’s been an ongoing debate about the merits and validity of instapoetry. Some say that instapoetry has turned poetry into a capitalist venture while others argue that it’s revolutionized the genre.
In 2017, 12 of the top 20 bestselling poetry books were written by instapoets according to The NPD Group. One of the most popular instapoets is a Sikh woman from Brampton, Ontario named Rupi Kaur. Kaur began sharing her poems on social media in 2013 and quickly developed a cult-like following. The following year, she self-published her first collection of poetry, milk and honey. milk and honey has since been republished by Andrews McMeel Publishing and has sold over 2.5 million copies, was on the New York Times Best Seller List for more than 77 weeks and has been translated into at least 30 languages. Today, Kaur has a healthy 3.9 million followers on Instagram and is known as “the queen of the insapoets”, a title that is both a compliment and an insult.
Last November, Kaur was named the Writer of the Decade by The New Republic, which reignited the instapoetry debate, with people questioning her talent and the merits of instapoetry at large. Rumaan Alam, the author and critic who wrote the piece, argued that Kaur winning the award was less about her writing ability and more about her rise and impact on poetry moving forward. He argues that Kaur uses technology and social media better than other writers and that her popularity and influence will have lasting effects on the way people read, write, and think about poetry.
Most people assume that instapoetry is an amalgamation of the words and poetry but it’s not. If instapoetry were a compound word it would be instant-poetry. One of the reasons it’s called instapoetry is to reflect the instantaneousness of the delivery of the poem thanks to digital technology. In addition to being known as instapoets, Kaur and her contemporaries like Nayirrah Waheed and Atticus, are sometimes called “Instagram Poet Entrepreneurs.” The title reflects the now-common trend of the digital age as people turn their hobbies into businesses by publishing their work online. Instapoets are their own business and when they post their poems online they’re self-publishing. Similar to any entrepreneurial endeavour, instapoets must focus on marketing, branding themselves, as well as targeting specific demographics.
Another way to think about instapoetry is as poetry that can be published instantly, without all the frills usually associated with book publishing. With instapoetry, in its purest form, the only things you need are a smartphone, a social media account, access to the internet, and an image to post. That’s it. There are no editors to please, no designers to consult with, no printing presses involved or copies of books to buy then sell. All of these aspects are both time-consuming and can be cost-prohibitive. Some have said that social media and instapoetry are the key to (finally) making poetry profitable.
The accessibility of instapoetry is also a key factor in its popularity. There are fewer barriers associated with instapoetry so there are more people participating. Social media gives writers the power to self-publish and poetry gives them an outlet to express themselves. The democratization of poetry through social media has created a window for more diverse stories to be told. In addition to the tried-and-true subject of love, instapoetry often addresses political subjects like immigration, LGBTQ issues, domestic violence, and feminism. By not having the pressure of appealing to a wide audience, poets are able to express greater creative control.
Instapoetry is characterized by minimalism; no specific structure, short texts, the use of plain language, and direct, confessional lines. Instapoetry detractors will tell you that instapoetry is meaningless or lacks emotion. Most of the criticisms of instapoetry stem from its use of straightforward language in an attempt to be more relatable. But that same relatability is part of the reason why people like instapoetry and not traditional poetry.
You’ve probably heard someone say that they don’t like poetry or have heard poetry made fun of. It’s a familiar trope. People who don’t like poetry usually say that it’s nerdy, it’s old, it’s elitist, it’s hard to understand, it’s boring or some combination of all those things. I think most poets and poetry lovers are aware of these criticisms and almost look at them as a source of pride.
In some ways, traditional poetry is the antithesis of instapoetry. By that I mean, the characteristics that people tend not to like about traditional poetry are typically missing in instapoetry. In his article, Alam said that Rupi Kaur and other instapoets will be a lot of people’s first encounters with poetry, people who might never have (willingly) read a poem otherwise. And after discovering and loving these poets, they might continue to explore poetry and become acquainted with the classics. In other words, instapoetry is a gateway drug.
Whether it’s instapoetry or traditional poetry, one is not inherently better than the other. It’s also very much possible to appreciate and consume both traditional poetry and instapoetry. It’s a good literary diet and I highly recommend it.
So, while you’re social distancing, find a good instapoetry account, read an anthology or write some poems of your own. As always, we want to know what you’re reading and writing, get in touch with us and let us know what you’re doing to pass the time during self-isolation.
