Viral: Poems: A Button Poetry Book

by Lily Myers, Neil Hilborn, Javon Johnson

In 2013, the following poems by Lily Myers, Neil Hilborn, Javon Johnson, Rachel Rostad, Pages Matam, Dylan Garity, and Guante topped 200,000 views on the Button Poetry YouTube page. VIRAL contains these viral poems plus new, original work from each author. This anthology of poems and essays is a forceful argument for the continuing cultural relevance of poetry.

Genres: Poetry, Anthologies

61 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 18, 2013

Reviews

[Liz Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here are all the main poems as performed by their authors. Truly worth a listen, in fact some of these were the poems that drove me to love slam poetry to no end.
- Lily Myers - "Shrinking Women"
- Neil Hilborn - "OCD"
- Neil Hilborn - "Mating Habits of the North American Hipster"
- Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black"
- Rachel Rostad - "To JK Rowling, from Cho Chang"
- Dylan Garity - "Rigged Game"
- Dylan Garity - "Friend Zone"
- Guante - "Ten Responses to the Phrase 'Man Up' "
- Pages Matam - "Piñata"

Which one is your favourite?

[Spens (Sphynx Reads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a compelling collection of poems! Incredibly moving. I teared up while reading many of them. Although best enjoyed by watching or listening to them in spoken word form, this was still an excellent read.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great messages in all of these published pieces. The writing style did not appeal to me at all though, with a few exceptions - most of these poems read more like simple statements instead of poetry. There is a deep social meaning in all of them, but I only heard a unique artistic voice in one or two of them.

[Emily VanSiclen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly unique!

Definitely a one of a kind book. I loved it and would absolutely recommend it! Button Poetry at it's finest.

[Madiha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This just makes me wanna write some slam poetry <3

[Eric Camarillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of poems that I actually liked. Really, that's probably the highest praise I can offer.

[Elke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this A LOT. I've only recently been getting into slam poetry and this felt like a cool way to see some of the history and some big names.

I like the poems in particular better as spoken words since that is their original form, so I looked them up and listened whilst i read. And I love the fact that they wrote about their poems later.
I am too lazy to embed the links in this review, but really, you should go listen to all these people (and here is a review in which there are links! https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)

Javon Johnson's 'cuz he's black: the poem is heartbreaking and it's awesome that he wrote about his poem and included black girls and black queer people in his dialogue. The fact that he mentions who he didn't before is an impressive, kind but important, critique on himself.

Dylan Garity: Friend Zone: i love the honest way to look at a problem you perpetuated. also, i am so used to (and sick of) the friendzone shit the first part made me really uncomfortable which means it was extremely accurate.
Rigged Game was great and the ending phenomenal.
Incredible think piece about hurt and being stuck in what you think is your own righteousness.

Neil Hilborn: I already knew OCD! I wasn't the greatest fan of his other one, but will forever stan his poem "The Future"
I was already used to the new, added part being a reflection and then it was another poem! cool

Rachel Rostad: aaah i loved To JK Rowling From Cho Chang. I grew up loving harry potter and have thought about the tweet "the saddest death in harry potter is my respect for jk" every week since it was written (https://twitter.com/kzabrekker/status...) Shoutout to Em who's here on goodreads too!
great lecture. i think it's sad that so much had to be explained still, but unsurprisingly. "maintaining the status quo is a political stance"

Guante: Man Up: i am in awe of all these male poets that address problems that society forgets. sometimes they add their voice, like "friend zone," sometimes the problems are directly theirs, like here. and i love knowing it can be like this. that there are poets fighting for themselves and us and first and foremost this world. that male poetry doesn't have to be about a woman's body or weakness.
and i love this piece. i love the vulnerability and the honesty mixed with humour about a problem we all to often ignore.

Pages Matam: Pinata:
yes
yes
thank you. for voicing your experience and lending your voice to others too. i love how this is both about you and us. how you fight for both at the same time and wow thank you for recognising the beyond gender binary. and how to use your privilege. thank you for your thinkpiece that uses the words active ally

Lily Myers: Shrinking Women: this was great
everything in this was great. I absolutely loved the second poem all made out of actual reactions which showed so much realness behind the words. So much raw feelings and pain and hope.

[Rita Ricardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting compilation. I love Button Poetry and truly appreciated the fact that this includes reflections from the authors, a peak into their post viral thoughts, but also their intentions and experience that led to them writing the poems mentioned.
Particularly appreciated the sections about how performance /spoken poetry is very much alive and connecting people from different backgrounds, communities, ages etc, and the "Shrinking woman" poem, as well as the following poem from the answers the authors received - so powerful.

[Dima Asaad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Day 100. Book 92.

“If you base your life around your possessions, make sure they are bizarre, inconvenient, and obsolete.” Neil Hilborn

I’ve always been interested in poetry, and read lots of works by famous dead poets, none of which that inspired me to write my own. But then I remember watching Sarah Kay, Phil Kaye, Guante, Neil..... and I’m still adding new names because I haven’t stopped listening. Neither am I planning to stop writing.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The poems are incredibly good and the fact that they are followed by essays or additional contributions from the authors is fantastic. The other works really provided some interesting information in terms of what inspired the poems and what the authors gained from the critical appreciation they received for their work.

[Erin Clements · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good!

I’ve had this mini anthology on my phone for what feels like forever, but never actually took the time to read it until now, and I’m so happy I did. The poems themselves are insightful, heartfelt, and true, and the essays from the poets about how they feel post-virality are incredibly interesting.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really needed. That's all I can say. True talent. True healing. True commitment to others. True connection through words.

I loved how many authors included essays about their poems, I wish more poetry collections did this, it helps readers have a deeper and more accurate understanding of someone's work.

[Lola · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of the poems were amazing, Button Poetry never dissapoints.
Lily Myers brought tears to my eyes with "The Srinking Woman". So beautiful. What follower it, the letters to sisters, mothers, and daughters was my absolute favorite part of the whole book. It hit home.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here is my follow up poetry book!

This did not disappoint. I am really enjoying using this medium to talk about difficult topics, things we shy away from as a society. Very powerful and very insightful.

RECOMMEND!

[Risa Luthor · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was alright. Just not what I was thinking it was about.

[connie · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5/5 stars

Very meh unfortunately

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me gustó mucho que se incluyeran notas de los autores hablando del proceso creativo y de la inspiración detrás del poema.

[Sam Tindall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book of beautifully written, hard hitting poems. Covering a large range of representations, it was a glimpse into other people's walks of life.

[Ashiish V Patil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting collection. OCD and Cuz he's black are outstanding. But being performance vs page poetry it may be better to see them on YouTube.

[Winnie Mea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a collection of spoken word poetry that went viral. And I must say, watching the performances is powerful, but getting insight into what inspired the pieces, and how they were developed, and how the poets intended the pieces to be understood gives more depth to each. I especially apppreciate how the poets were also introduced in the book. This is such a powerful collection that I cried in public while reading one of the poems (Shrinking Women).
Anyone from any background will surely relate to the poems because there is a variety of issues being tackled here. There are poems with themes of feminism, sexism, racism, and mental health. I would probably read more Button Poetry books from now on.

[Mark O'Hearn · Rating 5 out of 5]

First things first. this is fantastic. Secondly I liked the stories that inspired the poems told by the authors. You could feel their inspiration.

[A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed these poems tonight. I'm fairly certain I've read most if not all of this already, but it was refreshing to come at it again after some time. Poetry is a wonderful thing.

[rara ➶ · Rating 2 out of 5]

lots of nice poems, most are more fitting to be read out loud as slam poetry and not in silence for enjoyment

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm in love with all of these poets.