About Neil Hilborn
Neil Hilborn (born August 8, 1990) is an American slam poet who writes and performs poetry. His poems often detail personal experiences and battles with mental illness. He is best known for his poem “OCD”, which has received 75 million views online. Hilborn tours to perform his poetry at colleges and other venues. Hilborn began writing slam poetry and competing/performing in 2009. He was a part of his college's slam poetry team as well as the Minneapolis Adult National Slam Poetry team, which placed 5th out of 80 competitors in the 2011 national competition. After graduating, Hilborn began to perform with Button Poetry, a company based out of Minnesota. In 2012, he travelled the Midwest on The Good News Poetry Tour with fellow Button poets Dylan Garrity and Hieu Nguyen.Later in 2013, a video of Hilborn's poem “OCD” went viral, garnering millions of views across social media platforms. Although the performance of “OCD” was among the first videos posted on Button Poetry's YouTube page in 2012, the poem did not gain popularity until another performance was posted a year later. As of 2017 the video garnered more than 62 million views and is both Button Poetry's most watched video and the most watched slam poem on the internet. Hilborn's first chapbook, Clatter, was self-published in 2012 before being picked up by Button Poetry and re-published in 2013. Hilborn's second book, Our Numbered Days, was released on May 14, 2015. The book is a collection of 45 poems. The book is divided into six different sections spanning the entire collection. Our Numbered Days features some of Hilborn's most well-known poetry, including “Joey” and “OCD”.
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