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Poetry found a new home in the digital space as smartphones became ubiquitous.
Poems that sprout and thrive are on Tumblr, Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram. Through these platforms, a new crop of poets emerged, revolutionizing how we digest, consume, and perceive the art form and making poetry more accessible and appealing to the younger generation. The social media poets, dubbed Instapoets, have achieved such huge fanbases that they’ve found their way from Instagram squares to the pages of bestselling books.
Their powerful work tackles themes from friendship to racism, romantic love, immigration, self-love, mental health, gender identity, and politics. Here are eight Instapoets to check out and follow:
Rupi Kaur
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Tagged as the Queen of Instapoets, Rupi Kaur became well-known for her trademark short poems and sketches, which encompass themes often deemed taboo for women: Violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity. Her debut book, milk and honey, became a New York Times bestseller and has been translated into 42 languages. That’s just the tip of the iceberg for the Indian-Canadian author. She currently hosts a show on Amazon Prime called Rupi Kaur Live and graces the stage with her live performances across the globe, performing poetry combined with stand-up comedy.
MORGAN HARPER NICHOLS
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Conquering the platform is Georgia-based artist and writer Morgan Harper Nichols, who has around two million followers on Instagram. To say that Nichols’s content is refreshing is an understatement: her artwork is filled with colors, flowers, and city skylines, and her words center around the question of “how can we create connection?” It’s no wonder her work successfully crossed over to print with bestselling books like All Along You Were Blooming and You Are Only Just Beginning. She was 30 years old when she found out she had autism and ADHD, informing her of the unique way she approaches art, music, and poetry.
LANG LEAV
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No Instapoet list is complete without Lang Leav, who started her foray into poetry in 2012 when she posted short poems, sometimes accompanied by drawings, on Tumblr and Instagram. She quickly rose to fame. Lang Leav is now an international bestselling author with five poetry collections and two novels. Her most recent one, Others Were Emeralds, is a literary fictional novel loosely based on Lang Leav’s and her parents’ harrowing experiences as they fled the Khmer Rouge to seek refuge in the predominantly migrant town of Cabramatta. She now resides and writes from New Zealand in a house by the sea with her partner and fellow poet, Michael Faudet.
ATTICUS
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Atticus is the masked slash anonymous hero of Instapoetry. His reason for keeping his identity a secret? He wants to always remind himself to write what he feels, not what he thinks he should. His short verses encompassing themes of love, relationships, and adventures have successfully leaped from Instagram squares to the pristine publishing pages, with instant bestsellers like Love Her Wild, The Dark Between Stars, and The Truth About Magic. Atticus’ celebrity fan base includes Emma Roberts and supermodel Karlie Kloss. Galore magazine” called Atticus “The Most Tattooed Poet in the World,” a nod to his cult-like following.
NIKITA GILL
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If you are fond of fairy tales, Greek myths, and their modern retellings, then you’re likely already following Nikita Gill, an Irish-Indian poet, playwright, and illustrator. Gill shares that she envisions speaking to her younger self when writing poetry, embracing themes of self-love and the empowerment of womanhood. Besides having a substantial online following (500,000 Instagram followers), Gill is the author of eight volumes of poetry and a novel entitled The Girl and the Goddess, released in 2020. It is currently being adapted for TV by Lena Headey.
CAROLINE KAUFMAN
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Caroline Kaufman, also known as @poeticpoison on Instagram, is one of the youngest Instapoets. She started writing when she was twelve years old to cope with her depression and anxiety. Before she knew it, she gained 200,000 followers on Instagram and became one of the most popular Instapoets. Her book, Light Filters In, a poetry collection about not fitting in, endlessly Googling “how to be happy,” and ultimately figuring out who you are, is an international bestseller.
MARISA B. CRANE
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Marisa Crane’s poems have been circulating on Instagram and Pinterest for years, recognizable by their clean text or vintage typewriter-inspired images. Some of her finest verses include powerful commentary on the discrimination against the LGBT community. Last year, Crane successfully released her debut novel, I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself, about queer survival in a dystopian world.
AMANDA TORRONI
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Hailing from South Carolina, Amanda Torroni is a poet, independent writer, and freelance editor. Her fame took off after she self-published four poetry books, garnered an online following, and showcased her work in various venues in the U.S. She is the author of Stargazing at Noon, a collection of poems tackling themes of intimacy, distance, the body, self-doubt, nostalgia, and love, and finding beautiful patterns in the material of life.
Fully Booked invites you to savor literary verses. Have fun browsing their Poetry Collection here! For more bookish news and recommendations, visit https://www.fullybookedonline.com/blog.
Disclaimer: Article used with permission from Fully Booked
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