Excerpt from My Love is a Durian by Kelly Kaur
Birthright
by Kelly Kaur
Mummy sits in the corner of the room
dupatta over her head
hands in clasped obeisance
murmuring verses from the Adi Granth
I scream in unbearable agony
expelling this errant child from my womb
Her prayers don’t make a difference
to the intense pain
but her presence in the hospital room
calms my soul
At that precise cross point
I envision my mother’s birth
I remember my birth
I give birth
My daughter’s cries fill the room
rising to a crescendo
greeting my mother’s chants
Rebellious
Three generations of women
three countries
forever
inextricably linked
“Birthright” by Kelly Kaur, from My Love is a Durian (University of Calgary Press, 2026). Reprinted with permission. Copyright Kelly Kaur.
Asha and Tegan Asha July 3. 2 hours old. Foothills Hospital, Calgary
Kelly Kaur and her poetry collection, My Love is a Durian (University of Calgary Press, 2026).
Immigration, rebellion, and family drive this uplifting and inspiring debut poetry collection.
In My Love is a Durian, Singapore and Canada twine and intertwine, the places adopted and left behind bunch and twist. Kelly Kaur leads readers through markets in Singapore and up mountainsides in Kananaskis. These poems enliven the senses, from the taste of durians eaten fresh to the chill of snow melting on the cheek, as they dance the insider-outsider dance.
My Love is a Durian seeks belonging without judgement, a place to rest, a place to work, and a place to grow. It shares the easy happiness of time with friends and family, the tension of coming of age, the fear and joy of making a life. These poems tangle with ideas of colour and race, freedom and acceptance. These are poems that reach out to readers to create empathy, connection. My Love is a Durian lifts up the voices that sing in the margins of the world.
Kelly Kaur is a writer, author, and speaker. Her poems, short stories, and nonfiction have landed on the moon, published on beer cans, danced on stage, and travelled to galleries and museums. She was awarded the South Asian Inspiration Award for Outstanding Achievement in Arts and Culture, nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and won an honourable mention in the Creators of Justice Literary Awards. She was also awarded The Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award in 2024.