Hello everybody,
I hope you're having a wonderful day. It's that time again. We're here with another author interview, and today's guest is Indian poet Gurpreet Kaur.
PB: Hi Gurpreet ! Welcome to pjbermanbooks.com. Tell us a bit about your background.
GK: Hey! First of all I would like to thank you for this opportunity. I’m grateful. I am an author of two modern poetry books - ‘I’m done’ and ‘Warriors’. I’m from India and am currently in my second year of studies towards a Bachelor’s in Computer Science.
PB: What made you decide to become a poet?
GK: I cannot pin-point the exact moment or an experience that suddenly made me want to be a poet. It was something that happened naturally over the course of time.
PB: When did you first start writing?
GK: I started writing when I was in school. Initially, it used to be for homework and grades but then I started enjoying writing and gradually it became one of my hobbies.
PB: What was the first poem that you can remember writing?
GK: I remember it was Mother’s Day. I was 9 or 10 years old. I had made a card and had written a tiny poem inside it for my mother.
PB: Tell us a bit about your writing process.
GK: My writing process starts with writing one poem a day. Some days my mind is flooded with ideas and I can easily pen down 2-3 poems and then there are days when it is difficult to pen down even a single poem. When I have around 200 poems, I read and re-read and then edit them. Usually halfway through this process, I come up with a theme for my book which helps me to sort out poems and arrange them in an effective order. For example – Warriors, is divided into two sections, Battles of Love and Battles of Life.
PB: Where did the idea for your first book, Warriors, come from?
GK: I came across this somewhere that we should never judge or be rude to someone because we don’t know what hardships or struggles the other person might be facing. That’s where it struck me that each one of us is busy fighting their own very different yet somehow similar battles and each one of us is a Warrior in our very own way.
PB: Tell us about your recent book, I’m Done.
GK: I’m Done is all about love, heartbreak and healing. This book is divided into 2 sections. In the first section, within a space of a page turn, readers can experience the flowery side of love and the harsh toxic reality of that love. This collection depicts the beautiful side of love, how it slowly turns toxic and finally crumbles into pieces. The second section of this book focuses on the harsh, raw reality of recovering from a heartbreak.
PB: Of all the poems you have written, which is the most special to you?
There’s this poem in Warriors -
“heartbroken, determined to never fall in love again,
she started building her defences up.
as hard as concrete
she built them.
he came like autumn, said her name
and all those defences shed.”
This one is special because when I posted it on Instagram, people messaged me that I should consider writing a book and that sort of gave me the push I needed to work on a book.
PB: Of all your achievements, which are you most proud of?
GK: The best is yet to come, but I’m really proud of both my poetry books.
PB: Who are your favourite poets?
GK: Rupi Kaur, Nikita Gill are inspirations. I love the works of Shiv Kumar Batalvi (a Punjabi poet), Robert Frost and Kahlil Gibran.
PB: What are your long term ambitions with regards to writing?
GK: Ambition comes in many forms. Poetry to me feels like home. I want my readers to feel like they are at home too when they read my poetry. I want to write something that adds value to their lives and most importantly makes them feel.
PB: If you weren’t an author, what career would you be in?
GK: If not an author, I’d probably be a web designer.
PB: What’s the next target for you?
GK: Humour is one of the genres I’m looking forward to exploring as a writer.
PB: Tell us a random fact about yourself.
GK: I love playing Badminton.
A big thank you to Gurpreet Kaur for allowing us to get to know her a little more. That was fascinating. If you would like to delve a little deeper into Gurpreet's poetry, you can do so via the links below:
Until next time, happy reading everyone!
Peter