Performed
“She carries a knife, just in case she finds something she wants to carve her name into.”
Don’t miss this poem from Andrea Gibson, performing
Get Andrea’s book, You Better Be Lightning.
Performed by Rudy Francisco
“We learn that the heart is the same size as the fist, but we keep forgetting they don’t have the same functions.”
Don’t miss this poem from Rudy Francisco, performing by Rudy Francisco
Get Rudy’s book, Helium.
Performed at the Button Studio
“What’s Black life to a murder machine? What good is mattering to a wolf’s front teeth?”
Don’t miss this poem from Darius Simpson, performing at the Button Studio
Get Darius’s book, Never Catch Me.
Performed at the Strike Theater in Minneapolis, MN
“Even after my father died I couldn’t go for a walk, or take a bath, or laugh at a stupid TV show without the guilt burning in my knuckles. The alchemy of dying joy transformed to shame at the first cough.”
Don’t miss this poem from Ollie Schminkey, performing at the Strike Theater in Minneapolis, MN
Get Ollie’s book, Dead Dad Jokes.
Performed at the Button studio
“The truth is, the body wants to live, and so there is always gasping.”
Don’t miss this poem from Ollie Schminkey, performing at the Button studio
Get Ollie’s book, Dead Dad Jokes.
Performed LIVE @ Button Poetry
“Everything that we think is shining is actually burning.”
Don’t miss this poem from Porsha Olayiwola, performing LIVE @ Button Poetry
Get Porsha’s book, I Shimmer Sometimes, Too.
Performed at the Button Studio
“What she got on ain’t nothing to do with how she should be treated.”
Don’t miss this poem from Ebony Stewart, performing at the Button Studio
Get Ebony’s book, Home.Girl.Hood..
Performed at Icehouse in Minneapolis, MN
“Tell your story, whether it rhymes or not. Tell the truth, whether it gets a good grade or not.”
Don’t miss this poem from Kyle “Guante” Tran Myhre, performing at Icehouse in Minneapolis, MN
Get Guante’s book, Not A Lot of Reasons to Sing, But Enough.
Performed by Junious ‘Jay’ Ward
“The answer to any question is not a trump that raises a wall, it’s a trumpet that brings one down.”
Don’t miss this poem from Junious ‘Jay’ Ward, performing his poem “Black Rapture”
Get Jay’s book, Composition.
We had so much fun at Wordplay last weekend! We absolutely loved seeing so many people there celebrating books 💕
We loved that so many of you stopped by and participate in our in-person Short Form Contest. We had some amazing entries! Read the winners’ poems below.
We also want to say ‘Thank you!’ to everyone that came by our booth and contributed to our community poem (and to everyone that commented on our Worldplay community poem post online!). We were thrilled to see so many poets leave a little piece of their work in our comments and on our notepad 🥺🥰
We can’t wait to attend again next year! And a big thanks from everyone here at Button Poetry to The Loft Literary Center for hosting this unbelievable event and letting us be a part of it!