Button Poetry

Button Poetry is a Minneapolis-based independent publisher and media company focused on performance poetry and spoken-word culture. Founded in 2011 by Sam Van Cook, the organization developed around the idea that live poetry could reach substantially larger audiences through recorded video, social platforms, and carefully edited digital distribution. Its work sits between publishing, event documentation, online entertainment, and literary promotion: it records poets performing on stage, distributes excerpts and complete performances through social media, and publishes books by poets associated with spoken-word, slam, and contemporary literary communities. The company became particularly visible through viral performance videos. Its catalog and media presence have included work by poets such as Neil Hilborn, Rudy Francisco, Danez Smith, Andrea Gibson, Denice Frohman, Sabrina Benaim, Emi Mahmoud, Aja Monet, Hanif Abdurraqib, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, Yesika Salgado, Imani Cezanne, Crystal Valentine, Brittney Black Rose Kapri, Chrysanthemum Tran, and many others. The organization’s videos have often presented emotionally direct performances dealing with mental health, identity, race, sexuality, relationships, trauma, and social justice. This approach helped introduce slam and performance poetry to viewers who might not otherwise attend live poetry events. One of Button Poetry’s best-known releases is Neil Hilborn’s performance of "OCD," a poem that became a major online success and was described by the Knight Foundation as the most-viewed slam-poetry performance in history. The popularity of this and similar videos established Button Poetry as one of the most recognizable digital distributors of contemporary performance poetry. By 2018, the company reportedly had more than 774,000 YouTube subscribers and more than 1.2 million Facebook followers, illustrating the scale of its audience at that point. Button Poetry began publishing books in 2013. Its publishing activity expanded the company’s role beyond short-form video and provided poets with print editions, author royalties, and a more durable literary platform. Its broader business model has included book publishing, video production, social-media distribution, live-event relationships, performance documentation, and sales through its online store. The company has also described employing poets and members of the poetry community in roles including videography, editing, social-media management, shipping, curation, and event-related work. The organization has also been involved in debates about the relationship between literary value, online virality, commercialization, and representation. Critics of viral or so-called "Instapoetry" have argued that poetry optimized for social-media circulation can encourage similar styles, simplify the range of poetic practice, or reduce the perceived importance of the broader literary canon. Button Poetry has faced related criticism concerning curation, compensation, consent, and the commercial use of poets’ personal experiences. During controversy surrounding the 2017 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational, the company said that videos published on its social channels required signed releases and that it compensated poets in several ways, including payments for performances, royalties, and production work. Button Poetry’s identity therefore combines independent publishing with platform-scale media distribution. Its influence comes less from a conventional mass-market book list than from connecting live performance, online discovery, and print publishing. The company remains associated with the expansion of spoken-word poetry into mainstream digital culture while continuing to occupy a contested position within the poetry community.

Button Poetry emerged in Minneapolis in 2011, founded by Sam Van Cook as an organization intended to promote performance poetry through video and social media. Its initial model responded to a structural change in how audiences encountered poetry: rather than relying only on readings, competitions, or printed collections, the company could record a poet’s stage performance and circulate it to viewers through online platforms. The format emphasized the voice, timing, gesture, and emotional immediacy of live spoken word while making performances searchable and shareable. During its first years, Button Poetry developed relationships with a large group of poets working in slam, spoken word, and adjacent literary communities. Its recorded performers have included Neil Hilborn, Rudy Francisco, Danez Smith, Andrea Gibson, Denice Frohman, Sabrina Benaim, Emi Mahmoud, Aja Monet, Hanif Abdurraqib, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, Yesika Salgado, Imani Cezanne, Crystal Valentine, Brittney Black Rose Kapri, Chrysanthemum Tran, and others. The breadth of this network allowed the company to present work addressing mental health, race, gender, sexuality, migration, relationships, grief, and political injustice. A major turning point came through the success of viral videos. Neil Hilborn’s performance of "OCD" became particularly prominent and was described by the Knight Foundation as the most-viewed slam-poetry performance in history. Button Poetry’s online distribution helped transform individual live readings into repeatable digital media products, giving poets exposure to audiences outside local poetry scenes. By 2018, the organization was reported to have more than 774,000 YouTube subscribers and more than 1.2 million Facebook followers. In 2013, Button Poetry expanded into book publishing. The move gave the company a second channel for supporting poets and allowed performances or poet-centered identities to develop into print collections. Publishing also connected the organization more directly to conventional literary commerce, including book sales and author royalties. Alongside its own publishing activity, Button Poetry continued producing and circulating videos and maintaining relationships with live poetry events. The company’s growth coincided with wider arguments about digital poetry. Supporters viewed online video as a way to make poetry accessible, amplify underrepresented voices, and connect readers with living writers. Critics argued that viral poetry and so-called Instapoetry could reward easily recognizable emotional styles, flatten distinctions among poets, and encourage newer writers to imitate content designed for visual platforms. These debates positioned Button Poetry not simply as a publisher, but as an influential curator and gatekeeper for a highly visible segment of contemporary performance poetry. The organization’s role in the poetry community became especially contentious at the 2017 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational. Button Poetry had sent a camera crew to document the festival, as it had done for several years. Following a controversial performance by Marc Smith, finalists and organizers held an extended backstage discussion and later presented demands on stage. One demand called for poems from the final stage not to be recorded by Button Poetry, with participants expressing concerns about commercialization, safety, trauma, consent, and compensation. On April 18, 2017, Button Poetry responded publicly, recognizing its position within the community and promising greater transparency. It said that social-media publication required signed releases and described payments for features and highly placed performers, royalties for authors, video royalties after an earnings threshold, and employment opportunities for poets in production and operational roles. In 2021, Van Cook publicly criticized Young Chicago Authors and raised allegations involving its leadership and another poet. The next day, the Young Chicago Authors board announced that Kevin Coval’s employment had ended. The episode demonstrated the extent to which Button Poetry’s leadership participated in public debates about safety and accountability in youth and performance-poetry institutions, while also requiring caution because the underlying accusations were allegations rather than adjudicated findings. Button Poetry’s historical importance lies in its hybrid structure. It has operated as an independent publisher, a performance-video producer, a social-media distributor, and a participant in live-poetry networks. Its work helped make spoken-word performance legible to mass online audiences, but its influence also generated ongoing questions about who controls recordings, how poets are paid, and whether viral distribution broadens or narrows poetic expression.

• 2021

  Public dispute involving Young Chicago Authors

  [1]Button Poetryen.wikipedia.org

  Founder and president Sam Van Cook issued public allegations about Young Chicago Authors and its leadership; the organization’s board subsequently announced that Kevin Coval’s employment had ended.

• 2018

  Large social-media audience reported

  [1]Button Poetryen.wikipedia.org

  Button Poetry was reported to have more than 774,000 YouTube subscribers and over 1.2 million Facebook followers.

• 2017

  CUPSI recording controversy

  [1]Button Poetryen.wikipedia.org

  Participants at the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational challenged Button Poetry’s planned documentation of performances and demanded stronger protections concerning consent, compensation, and the use of traumatic material.

• 2013

  Expansion into book publishing

  [1]Button Poetryen.wikipedia.org

  Button Poetry began publishing poetry books, extending its work from performance documentation and digital media into print publishing.

• 2011

  Button Poetry is founded

  [1]Button Poetryen.wikipedia.org

  Sam Van Cook founded Button Poetry in Minneapolis to promote performance poetry through recorded video and social-media distribution.

An independent publisher and digital media platform that brings performance poetry and spoken-word literature to broad online audiences while supporting poets through video distribution, print publishing, live-performance documentation, and community-oriented production.

• Poetry publishing · 2013

  Button Poetry books

  Print poetry collections published by Button Poetry, generally connected to contemporary performance poets, spoken-word artists, and writers whose work has circulated through the company’s digital channels. The books provide a longer-form counterpart to short online performances and support the development of poet-centered literary catalogs.

• Digital media · 2011

  Performance-poetry video catalog

  Recorded live readings and spoken-word performances distributed through Button Poetry’s online channels. The catalog emphasizes direct stage delivery and has featured poets addressing personal experience, mental health, identity, race, sexuality, relationships, and social issues.

• Event media

  Poetry event documentation

  Video production and documentation associated with live poetry events, festivals, slams, and performance settings. This activity has connected Button Poetry to local and collegiate poetry communities while also generating debate about recording permissions, curation, compensation, and the commercial use of performances.

• 2021

  Young Chicago Authors allegations

  Sam Van Cook publicly alleged that Young Chicago Authors leadership had enabled abuse and also made allegations concerning Roger Bonair-Agard. Young Chicago Authors’ board stated the following day that Kevin Coval’s employment had ended. The allegations should not be treated as proven findings without independent adjudication.

  Source

• 2017

  College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational recording dispute

  At the 2017 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational, finalists and organizers objected to Button Poetry recording performances and raised concerns about consent, compensation, safety, commercialization, and the treatment of traumatic material. Button Poetry later said that social-media videos required signed releases and outlined several forms of poet compensation while promising greater transparency.

  Source

• Debate over viral poetry and literary commercialization

  Critics have connected Button Poetry’s highly shareable performance format to wider criticism of viral or Instapoetry, including concerns that platform-oriented writing may homogenize styles, prioritize emotional immediacy, or make a simplified version of poetry more commercially prominent.

  Source

Read more

• 2017

  Commit to greater recording and compensation transparencyStrategy

  Background

  Participants at CUPSI criticized the organization’s presence as a commercial recorder and raised concerns about consent, safety, trauma, and poet compensation.

  Action taken

  Button Poetry publicly acknowledged the criticism, stated that published social-media poems required signed releases, described payments and royalties, and said it would document its processes more transparently.

  Aftermath

  The response clarified the company’s stated policies but did not end broader debate over platform power, curation, and commercialization in performance poetry.

  Source

• 2013

  Enter book publishingStrategy

  Background

  After establishing a presence in recorded performance poetry and social-media distribution, Button Poetry expanded into a more durable print format.

  Action taken

  The company began publishing poetry books and developed a publishing role alongside its video and event activities.

  Aftermath

  The move broadened Button Poetry’s business model and gave associated poets an additional route to print publication and royalties.

  Source

1. 1Button Poetryen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Button Poetry official websitebuttonpoetry.com