Unapologetically outspoken and honest, Rupi Kaur has connected with millions of readers. Her first two collections of poems, 2014’s milk and honey and 2017’s the sun and her flowers both became #1 New York Times bestsellers. In those books, she shares her unfiltered thoughts on everything from feminism to femininity, love and loss, life and its the curveballs — and her fans love it: Kaur has a devoted following of 4.5 million on Instagram, where she shares both her poems and the array of chic stage outfits she wears on her current world tour.

She’s back exploring the hurting, the loving, the breaking, and the healing, but this time she’s inviting you to do the same with her new book, Healing Through Words, available for pre-order now. Kaur, 29, spoke with EW about free writing, misconceptions surrounding poetry, and how everyone can be creative.

Jeremy Chan/Getty Images; Simon & Schuster

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: This book is a series of educational exercises. It’s very interactive and it’s meant to help the reader/writer heal through their own writing. What was your inspiration for creating this book?

RUPI KAUR: Well I’ve written three books, but sometimes I think my readers think it’s really easy and I never get writer’s block, but that’s not true. I feel like my first book was the easiest one to write because I had nothing to sort of live up to. I didn’t think I wanted to even be a writer. I was just doing it for fun. And then when I went to pursue the second book, I was hit with so much pressure and just felt so creatively blocked. I searched for tools for writing to help me overcome those writing block periods and make writing easier. And I just