A citywide initiative invited residents to distill their connection to South Florida into the traditional 14-line sonnet format, resulting in a massive wave of civic participation.
The contest drew over 500 original submissions from a diverse pool of writers, including first-time poets, entire classrooms, and a contributor as young as seven years of age. The reach extended far beyond city limits, with entries arriving from 19 states and eight countries, featuring poems written in Spanish, English, French, and Creole.
Sonnet Boom: Love Poems for Miami, was launched in January by Elevate Cities and Elevate Miami, in partnership with O, Miami and SWWIM. The public response to the entries was equally enthusiastic, generating 140,000 votes during the online gallery exhibition.
“This is the biggest contest that we’ve experienced from a community involvement perspective in over 15 years,” said Caroline Cabrera, Co-Executive Director of O, Miami. “Having this many votes is wildly impressive and proves that Miamians are hungry to share their story.”
Following a review by a panel of literary leaders — including Miami-Dade County Poet Laureate Caridad Moro-Gronlier and inaugural laureate Richard Blanco — the following winners were selected:
Adult Category:
First Place: Michael Ivory (“Magic City”)
Second Place: Clayre Benzadón (“Miami (Debutante) Sonnet”)
Third Place: Nyah Hardmon (“305786”)
Youth Category:
First Place: Ava, Grade 10, Ransom Everglades School (“The Pink Hotel Threw Fire”)
Second Place: Andrea, Grade 10, The Cushman School (“Border to Boulevard”)
Third Place: Nadine, Grade 8, Miami Arts Charter School (“Magic City”)
First-place winners in each category received $2,000, with $1,000 and $500 prizes awarded to second and third place, respectively.
READ MORE: The ‘i’ in Florida: O, Miami founder writes about South Florida's complexity through poetry
The initiative was celebrated not just as a literary achievement, but as a vital piece of community building. At a live celebration held at YoungArts on April 8, Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins lauded the creativity of the poets.
“When people write about the city they love, they are doing more than making art, they are building a sense of belonging,” Higgins said. “Sonnet Boom brought Miami together across languages, generations, and neighborhoods.”
Kim Coupounas, CEO of Elevate Cities, said that in a tech-saturated world, the "unfiltered human voice" of poetry remains essential.
“It’s about reminding people that they have a role in shaping the story of their city,” Coupounas said. “That kind of authorship — and belonging — feels more important than ever.”
The winning sonnets captured the "everyday magic" of the region, from Michael Ivory’s imagery of "hibiscus trumpets blaring life" to youth winner Ava’s description of "sugared tile still cooling from the night."
Said Catherine Esposito Prescott, co-founder of SWWIM: “A city is made of the people who love it. This initiative allowed Miamians to see themselves not just as residents, but as creators of the city's culture.”
You can read the winning poems here.
