World Poetry Day: Best Instagram poets to make you laugh, cry and think

The beloved art form is in the midst of a renaissance

Poetry was once considered a dying art.

At least, it was until Instagram came along and gave this underappreciated literary form a contemporary platform, one that has paved the way for budding Bards to publish and publicise their work at the same time.

While the term “Insta poet” may not be an apt moniker for these fledgling talents, whose creativity transcends the bounds of filtered squares, it’s become common parlance to describe the likes of Charly Cox, Rupi Kaur and Nikita Gill, whose pithy musings are changing the way we consume social media, one couplet at a time.

As people around the globe celebrate some of the biggest names in literature on World Poetry Day, we’re paying homage to an exciting cultural movement that’s giving poetry its long-awaited renaissance.

Here are the six poets on Instagram you need to know about now.

Charly Cox

Charly Cox is the thoughtful, funny and wistful 22-year-old at the vanguard of Instagram poetry thanks to her witty commentary on everything from body image to dating.

Cox's handwritten poems, which she posts on Instagram in artistic influencer-friendly compositions, offer an insight into the highs and lows of millennial life complete with all of the necessary angst ("I wish I'd not spent so long crying in bed"), emotion ("hold my hand and I'll know it") and humour ("oh kale leaves how you depress me").

The success of her witty verse led to the publication of a debut poetry collection, She Must Be Mad, in July 2018. It was dubbed "social media's answer to Carol Ann Duffy".

Rupi Kaur

With more than 3.6 million followers, Kaur is hardly an up-and-coming talent. Her debut poetry collection, Milk and Honey, was an instant bestseller when it was released in 2014 and her follow-up, The Sun and Her Flowers, in 2017 was an equal success.

The 26-year-old is in the middle of writing her third volume of poems but is keeping fans entertained with regular snippets of poetry on Instagram.

Kaur's poems stand out on the 'gram not just for their astute observations ("if the hurt comes so will the happiness") but for the fact that they're always written in lower case, a minimalistic aesthetic that has become synonymous with her thoughtful verse.

Nikita Gill

Nikita Gill's poetry excels in its exploration of womanhood, with poems such as "You aren't like most girls" and "Girls of the wild" adding an empowering and feminist underbelly to her voice.

Her latest collection, Fierce Fairy Tales & Other Stories to Stir Your Soul, features poems that dismantle some of the harmful gender stereotypes occupying traditional fairytales, championing brave and independent princesses who can fight the evils of their mystical worlds without the help of a handsome Prince Charming.

Gill's 516,000 followers on Instagram are usually treated to a poem a day.

Hollie McNish

Holly McNish is an established published poet, with five books under her belt, but the Cambridge-based writer boasts a prominent Instagram following thanks to her bright and colourful posts that serve to share her words with the world.

She covers everything from the woes of parenting to the disappointment when your phone runs out of battery with the same intellectual rigour, which makes for compelling and entertaining reading.

McNish also performs her poetry live and is currently on a tour around the UK.

Pavana

Pavana Reddy's poetry will feed your soul with spiritual wisdom thanks to verses that compare love to stained glass windows and deep, evocative imagery like the following: "I told the sun about you once. I think she poured herself into me so she could feel you too".

The Los Angeles-based writer has penned two collections of poetry, Where Do You Go Alone and Rangoli, and a third is on the way.

Atticus

Atticus posts bite-sized poems on Instagram on an almost daily basis to the delight of more than 1.1 million followers. 

The young writer has captured the hearts of people around the world, with celebrities like model Karlie Kloss and actor Shay Mitchell among his extensive fan base.

His poems on love, loss and the beauty of the natural world have led to three bestselling collections.

"In the simplest way, Atticus captures those little things that make life magic," Kloss once said of his work.