Button Poetry
Founded2011
FounderSam Van Cook
Country of originUSA
Headquarters locationMinneapolis, Minnesota
DistributionSCB Distributors
Fiction genresPoetry
ImprintsExploding Pinecone Press
Owner(s)Sam Van Cook
No. of employees8
Official websitebuttonpoetry.com

Button Poetry is a Minneapolis-based poetry company and independent publisher of performance poetry. They are known for their viral videos of slam poetry performances, including a performance of "OCD" by Neil Hilborn that the Knight Foundation called "the most-viewed slam performance in history."[1]

History

Button Poetry was founded in 2011 by Sam Van Cook to promote performance poetry through video and social media.[2][3] As of 2018 they had over 774,000 YouTube subscribers and over 1.2M Facebook followers.[4] In 2013 they began publishing books.[4]

Button Poetry has recorded performances by Brittney Black Rose Kapri,[5] Chrysanthemum Tran,[6] Elliot Darrow,[7] Crystal Valentine,[8] Neil Hilborn,[9] Denice Frohman,[10] Rudy Francisco,[11] Danez Smith,[12] Melissa Lozada-Oliva,[13] Emi Mahmoud,[14] Aja Monet,[15] Imani Cezanne,[16] Janae Johnson,[17] Javon Johnson,[18] Desireé Dallagiacomo,[19] Yesika Salgado,[20] Andrea Gibson, Rudy Francisco, Sabrina Benaim, Porsha Olayiwola,[21] Tonya Ingram,[22] Muggs Fogarty,[23] Siaara Freeman,[24] and Hanif Abdurraqib.[9]

Criticism

Button Poetry has received backlash from critics who suggest that the works make "a mockery of the whole canon."[25] Viral poets have been labeled "Instapoets" due to their specific style and creation for a more broad audience and their placement in visual/social media platforms.[26] Poets and linguists have criticized the effects of viral poetry on poetry writing, noting potential homogenization of writing styles among newer poets.[27][28]

CUPSI 2017

In 2017, a camera crew from Button Poetry attended College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational to document the festival, as they had done for many years.[29]

Alleged "founder of slam poetry", Marc Smith, who was a featured performer on final stage that year, upset much of the audience with his set, which led to protests and changes in the scheduled programming of events. For an hour and a half, a discussion from finalists and organizers occurred backstage as to how to proceed.[30]

When the finalists reconvened, they brought a list of demands on stage, one of which was, "none of the poems that touch this stage tonight will be recorded by Button Poetry. You will not capitalize off of us… we won’t have it, not tonight. We will not be demoralized, nor will our traumas be trivialized for revenue, especially not by an organization that cannot simply provide us with a safe space.” Finishing off the statement poet Justice Ameer stated, "when we say 'remember why you wrote it, it's not to help white people make money."[31][32]

On April 18, 2017, Button Poetry released the following statement, "We recognize our role in relation to the poetry community and have been listening to your concerns. We are working towards better transparency around curation of video and compensation of poets. First, we feel it is important to communicate that NO POEM goes up on Button social media without a signed release. Second, it is one of our core goals to compensate poets for their work; we do this in many fashions including paying features and top-placing poets at Button Poetry Live, paying royalties to authors, paying royalties on videos (after an earning threshold), primarily employing poets as videographers, video editors, social media managers, shipping staff, curators and so on. We are eager to improve and are working on documentation of our processes in an effort to be more transparent. We will be making those documents available in the coming weeks and months."[29]

YCA Statement

In 2021, Button Poetry President & Founder Sam Van Cook released a statement sharing his concerns about Young Chicago Authors (YCA) and their involvement in enabling serial rapists and abusers. “I believe that Kevin Coval’s leadership at YCA is a clear and present danger to the thousands of young people served through YCA and [its slam poetry tournament] Louder Than a Bomb (LTAB),” Van Cook wrote. In his statement, Van Cook also commented on Roger Bonair-Agard and stated, "I believe [him] to be a serial predator and rapist." The next day, the YCA board of directors put out a public statement declaring Coval's employment had been ended.[33][34][35][36]

References

  1. ↑ Schouweiler, Susannah (April 21, 2014). "Button Poetry is taking poems online to reach young audiences – and they're going viral". Knight Foundation. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  2. ↑ "History - Button Poetry". Button Poetry. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  3. ↑ Brewer, Robert Lee (2017-07-06). "Button Poetry: Poetry Spotlight". Writers Digest. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  4. 1 2 Boog, Jason. "Is Poetry the New Adult Coloring Book?". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  5. ↑ Dixon, Danielle (2017-01-17). "Gun Violence, Police Brutality and the Black Man". Soul Reflectionz. Archived from the original on 2018-08-16. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  6. ↑ Chrysanthemum Tran - On (Not) Forgiving My Mother, retrieved 2023-01-30
  7. ↑ Dias, Elizabeth. "The College Student Behind Viral 'God is Gay' Poem". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  8. ↑ "crystal valentine". Button Poetry. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  9. 1 2 Salonek, Lauren (2017-04-18). "5 Of Button Poetry's Must-See Spoken-Word Performances". The Odyssey Online. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  10. ↑ "Denice Frohman". Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. 2018-08-15. Retrieved 2018-08-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  11. ↑ "Remember, tragedy and silence have the same address: A poem for complainers". The Indian Express. 2017-10-14. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  12. ↑ Blay, Zeba (2016-08-11). "Breathtaking Poem Imagines An 'Alternate Heaven For Black Boys'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  13. ↑ Vagianos, Alanna (2015-08-20). "One Woman's Reaction To Every 'White Man's Sentence'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  14. ↑ Weiss, Suzannah (2016-06-18). "This Poem Reveals What Child Brides Go Through". Bustle. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  15. ↑ Segal, Corinne (2015-09-07). "When the people meant to protect us become our enemy". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  16. ↑ Saul, Isaac (2014-05-09). "Spoken-Word Poet Spears 'Hunger Games' With Her Own Story". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  17. ↑ Janae Johnson - Black Rage, retrieved 2023-01-25
  18. ↑ Barksdale, Aaron; Jeong, Ji Sub (2015-11-13). "Black Poet Explains Painful Reality Of Police Violence To His 4-Year-Old Nephew". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  19. ↑ Hatch, Jenavieve (2016-03-02). "15 Witty Comebacks To Every Sleazy Pickup Line". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  20. ↑ Salgado, Yesika (2015-01-13). "How Not to Make Love to a Fat Girl". Everyday Feminism. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  21. ↑ Button Presents: Porsha Olayiwola, retrieved 2023-01-23
  22. ↑ Tonya Ingram - Thirteen, retrieved 2023-01-23
  23. ↑ Muggs Fogarty - Nerve, retrieved 2023-01-23
  24. ↑ Siaara Freeman - Hexes For My Exes (after Rachel Wiley), retrieved 2023-01-24
  25. ↑ Ramanathan, Lavanya (2018-05-06). "From Instapoets to the bards of YouTube, poetry is going viral. And some poets hate that". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  26. ↑ Alter, Alexandra (2015-11-07). "Web Poets' Society: New Breed Succeeds in Taking Verse Viral". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  27. ↑ Bartley, Savon. "Blavity talks performance poetry, going viral and HBO Def Jam with Button Poetry". Blavity. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  28. ↑ Donaldson, Jesse (2017-02-05). "This Is Why You Probably Hate Slam Poetry, According to a Linguistic Scholar". Vice. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  29. 1 2 "As many of you know, Button Poetry had a film crew present at the Finals of CUPSI 2017". Facebook. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  30. ↑ "College Poets Protest Marc Smith on the CUPSI Finals Stage". Chicago Defender. 2017-05-05. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  31. ↑ Frost, Isaiah (April 17, 2017). "Trouble in CUPSI-dise: Founder of Slam Poetry Protested Off National Stage By Fed-Up Poets". The Junction Journal – via Brooklyn College.
  32. ↑ "Cupsi 2017 statement from the teams | By Roscoe | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  33. ↑ Van Cook, Sam. "Statement from Button Poetry President & Founder Sam Van Cook". Button Poetry. Archived from the original on 2021-03-03.
  34. ↑ Moore, Taylor (2021-07-21). "A silence louder than words". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  35. ↑ "Column: Kevin Coval out at Young Chicago Authors, following controversy over handling of sex assault allegations". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  36. ↑ "YCA Public Statements Archive". Young Chicago Authors. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
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