Artburst Extras
Miami’s ‘Sonnet Boom’ Crowns Winners After 140,000 Votes Celebrating the Magic City
First place winner Michael Ivory in front of his poem at GreenSpace on Biscayne Boulevard. (Photo by Chantal Lawrie)
The task was to write a love letter to Miami, the Magic City, the 305, in a 14-line sonnet and the city’s public responded.
Michael Ivory’s “Magic City” and Clayre Benzadón’s “Miami (Debutante) Sonnet” took first and second place, respectively in O, Miami, SWWIM and Elevate Miami’s “Sonnet Boom: Love Poems for Miami” contest in the adult category. Ivory was awarded $2,000 and Benzadón won $1,000. Third place winner was Nyah Hardmon for the poem “305786” who took home $500.
The trio won the citywide poetry contest that drew more than 500 submissions and 140,000 public votes and opportunities for publication and live performance across the city.
Ivory, 30, an editorial associate with the nonprofit organization Soul Story, has been a writer his entire life. “I’ve always been very creative and always loved making worlds and telling stories,” Ivory said. “I’m on the son of two preachers so I learned the power of words from them.”
First place winner Michael Ivory with O, Miami Co-Executive Director Caroline Cabrera. (Photo courtesy of Elevate Cities)
And as with many writers, his high school English teachers were an enormous influence on him. A Miami native, now living in Philadelphia, he is a graduate of North Miami Senior High, Duke University and North Carolina State. Ivory has had work published with O, Miami in the past.
His work has appeared in their ‘Waterproof’ Anthology and audiobook ‘Who We Are Is Made’ and he had a poem published at a museum during one of their April events.
His winning poem “Magic City” reflects his love for Miami and his wish to one day return and live in Miami. “The truth is that the city’s description of the Magic City is something beyond language. Just about every line in my poem begins with ‘maybe.’ I think everything I express in the poem is true about Miami. I believe deeply in magic and there is something that is beyond what humans can explain and I feel you can really experience that in Miami.”
Ivory’s poem is peppered with words like “mangrove,” “hibiscus trumpets” and “Virginia Key” and paints a picture of Miami only a Miami native could describe.
He says he entered the contest at the insistence of one of his best friends who still lives in Miami.
SWIMM Co-Founder Catherine Prescott, O, Miami Co-Executive Director Melody Santiago and Elevate Prize Foundation Founder Joseph Deitch. (Photo courtesy of Elevate Cities)
“Being a creative writer for as long as I have been, I am accustomed to rejection and know that comes with the territory. Especially because art is subjective so when Caroline Cabrera, O’Miami’s Co-Executive Director, announced my name it was very heartfelt and local writer Arsimmer McCoy being there was amazing because that is someone I really admire,” he said.
Also exciting for Ivory was his photo shoot at the GreenSpace building where his poem is wrapped around the outside of the building, which happened prior to the announcement at YoungArts.
“People who had entered Sonnets Boom were told their poems could potentially be displayed around the city but even that did not tip me off that I won,” said Ivory who checked on the public voting portion of the contest and noticed that he was trailing. “But after I won, Caroline from O, Miami mentioned that I had the most public votes and it’s so wonderful to know that even though I’m not in Miami my work is still loved there.”
Second place winner Clayre Benzadón, like Ivory, has a history with O, Miami and is a published author, her manuscript “Moon as Salted Lemon,” published by Driftwood Press in 2025 and her chapbook, “Liminal Zenith”, was published by SurVision Books in 2019.
She first learned about O, Miami while attending graduate school at the University of Miami in 2018. “I would hear about different events, professors, and simple word of mouth. I loved that they hosted community-based events, so I began attending them and gaining an understanding of how they bring poetry into public spaces all over Miami.”
Once she realized there were opportunities to submit work, she began submitting and many of her pieces were accepted but to her, S. Benzadón’s “Moon as Salted Lemon” poem, which is also the title of her published book, was published with SWIMM.
When composing her winning poem, she “did not want to fall into the tropes of what people think about Miami. One of the ways I was able to create an element of surprise was through the sonnet form, using the rhyme scheme and playing around with that helped my process.”
In her poem, she mentions Miami’s hyperlocal music and event space ZeyZey in Little Haiti which she says “is what grounded me in the poem, the mention of ZeyZey which was a hidden gem when it first opened so that was an inspiration but also the other side of Miami and it’s excessive party scene is also reflected in my sonnet.”
[Read Benzadón’s winning poem]
At the event, Benzadón was thrilled to hear her name called “because there were like 10 finalists, so I wasn’t sure how it was going to happen, but when they announced my name, I was genuinely surprised.”
A collaborative effort between O, Miami, SWIMM and Elevate Cities, the conversation about Sonnets Boom began in late 2025. Melody Santiago Cummings, co-executive director of O, Miami, Catherine Esposito Prescott, co-founder of SWIMM and Kim Coupounas, CEO of Elevate Cities talk about the magic that was created at that initial meeting and beyond.
Second place winner Clayre Benzadón at the Sonnets Boom announcement party at
YoungArts. (Photo courtesy of Elevate Cities)
“It’s been magical from the very beginning,” said Coupounas of Elevate Cities, “especially because when we first launched Elevate Cities in 2025, we always wanted to make art especially poetry and with Miami being our launch city, we wanted to meet with the city’s leaders.”
The door was already open through one of Coupounas’s colleagues and the ideas just flowed from the beginning and at by the second meeting “SWIMM and O, Miami conceptualized the idea of Sonnet Boom. “The whole process has been an example of the power of partnerships,” she said.
Cummings from O, Miami said, “we focused on our strengths and our partners, and they operate in service to community with poetry celebrating the natural resources we have in our community, The event far exceeded everyone’s expectations. We are incredible proud of every facet of this event and it being a gift to the community. It does not feel like work when you can rely on playing to your strengths.”
Prescott from SWIMM described it as them becoming “O, Miami 2.0 because there was such ownership of the event from beginning and we complement each other so well.”
“The outpouring from the community showed that it is something that blended so beautifully and the culminating event at YoungArts, being rooted in this place and hosting us in such a gorgeous setting was a testament to all the partners adding to the mix,” said Coupounas. “It was an additive to an already massive array of event, and it felt very joyful.”
Cummings echoed her sentiments and is looking forward to what the future holds.
“Partnering with Elevate was magical and it proved what they can do to create a pilot program that sets a new bar of success. Excited to see what else will come from our work with Elevate Cities in other cities,” said Cummings.
Elevate Cities already plans to bring a similar program to Boston and for now, the public can experience the winners of Sonnet Boom at a special event at the Miami Beach Bandshell on Sunday, May 10 called Connect-On.
WHAT: Connect-On
WHERE: Miami Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave., Miami Beach
WHEN: 4 p.m., Sunday May 10
COST: Free
INFORMATION: miamibeachbandshell.com/
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