Hanif Abdurraqib – “Ode to Prince, Ending in a Jukebox on Fire in Ohio”

Featuring at Button Poetry Live, May 2016.

“I have given everything I have over to a juke, in hopes it would cough up one of your songs the way it was meant to be heard.”

Don’t miss this incredible tribute from Button author Hanif Abdurraqib (whose debut book is available here!), featuring at Button Poetry Live. Make sure to subscribe to us on YouTube to stay up to date on all these amazing performances.
While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, including Button t-shirts in both female and unisex cuts, and books and more by many of your favorite Button artists.

Link Round-Up 6

Button semicolon logo Transparent (2)

Howdy friends! It’s been another great week in the world of poetry, and we are super excited to share some of the gems we stumbled upon online.

Three Poems by Hanif Abdurraqib – That’s right, it is physically impossible to go one week without Hanif absolutely wrecking you with his brilliant writing. This week, it’s three poems up at Public Pool.

Beech Street Review –William James, Angelique Palmer, and Mckendy Fils-Aime are the editors of a brand new literary journal, and they just opened their submissions for the first quarterly issue! Looking for inspiration to send them a poem? Check out our writing prompt from Ollie Schminkey!

“All These Bodies” by Taylor Steele –I was lucky enough to see this poem performed live at Rustbelt Regional Poetry Slam in Columbus, and trust me, you’re never going to be ready for this captivating and brilliant writing and performance. Thanks to fellow poetry org SlamFind for the awesome video!

Ten Trans, Non-Binary, Gender Non-Conforming, Gender Fluid, and Genderqueer Poets You Need to Hear – That’s right, in addition to writing and performing beautiful poems, Taylor also has a column over at Medium where she highlights the best of the best when it comes to poetry. This installment focuses on giving some credit to an often uncelebrated and erased part of the poetry community. Meet your new favorite poets!

“A Way of Thanking the Pig” by Emily O’Neill – Emily’s work has been published all over, and this poem about honoring the animals we eat appeared in the initial issue of Tap Lit magazine. If you want to get to know Emily more, you can check out her amazing review of Jay Deshpande’s “Love the Stranger” that she was kind enough to write for us last week.

Thanks for stopping by to spend a little time with us, and thank you to the brilliant folks out there trying to make sense, if not of violence, of what it takes to survive it. Take care of yourselves, drink water, and come back next week for more poetry updates.

Button semicolon logo Transparent (2)

Anna Binkovitz is a poet and Button staffer living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She loves pizza, red wine, and honest writing with a lyrical twist.

Best of Button Week 65

Kate Hao Kristen Sze-Tu Yet Still Best of Button

“Single, female, 20-years-old. Looking for a man who likes a girl who…doesn’t really…look…like me.”

Don’t miss this week’s Best of Button playlist, featuring the top-viewed recent videos on the Button YouTube Channel. Today’s additions: Hanif Abdurraqib, Adam Hamze, Kate Hao & Kristen Sze-Tu. Congratulations poets!

Make sure to check out our books and merchandise in the Button Store, including Hanif’s new book!

Link Round-Up

Button semicolon logo Transparent (2)

Hi, hello and welcome to the new Button Poetry weekly link round-up! We’ll be scouring the internet, finding the coolest news in poetry, spoken word, and the Minneapolis-Saint Paul literary world. As we kick things off, it’s impossible to miss the fact that we are now a month out from losing the Purple One, Prince. We’d like to dedicate this week’s post to him, featuring some great content speaking to his legacy.

The Night Prince Walked On Water – Last month over at MTV, Button author Hanif Abdurraqib decided to bless us with this tribute to Prince, and his famous half-time performance.

Purple Elegy – Featured in the Paris Review, this striking, concentrated elegy by Rowan Ricardo Phillips bridges the space between the music of Prince and the music of the page.

The Poetry Gods – This is a new project created by Jon Sands, Jose Olivarez, and Button author Aziza Barnes. While every single episode is the coolest party you’ve ever dreamed of being invited to, we especially recommend listening to Episode 5, featuring Josh Bennett and some reflections on the poetics of physics.

Lit Crawl MN – A special heads-up to our Twin Cities dwellers! On June 4th, the first ever Lit Crawl MN will be taking place in various Minneapolis venues. Expect shenanigans from Coffeehouse Press, The Loft Literary Center, and our dear friends in performance poetry, Wordsprout. And that is just the beginning!

Lessons From Indie Poetry Presses: Poetry 2016 – Button was honored with a shout-out in this article discussing the special challenges and opportunities of running a small press. Not only do you get to hear from our editor, Michael Mlekoday, you can also learn about other great presses out there and the amazing artists they work with.

These Are the Biggest Misconceptions About College Women – In case you didn’t know, Button YouTube regular Crystal Valentine is amazing. She was named one of Glamour’s “College Women of the Year.” Here is a piece in which Crystal and some other amazing young women speak to their experiences as students, activists, and awesome people.

Slam Camp: A Performance Poetry Intensive – Are you or do you know a poet in high school? Then do yourselves and them favor and take a look at this summer camp. Run by Button author Sierra DeMulder and Adam Henze, this camp gives young writers a chance to work with some of the best poets in the game; Melissa Lozada-Oliva, Hieu Nguyen, G Yamazawa, and more!

Button semicolon logo Transparent (2)

Anna Binkovitz is a poet and Button staffer living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She loves pizza, red wine, and honest writing with a lyrical twist.