April is recognized as National Poetry Month but what executive director Melody Santiago Cummings, and artistic director Caroline Cabrera, want everyone in Miami to know is that O, Miami is more than just the local month-long poetry festival.
That is just one of their collective goals as the new co-directors of O, Miami, the organization whose mission is to build community around poetry and spread that mission throughout South Florida.
Cummings first learned about O, Miami more than a decade ago when she attended a poetry reading by O, Miami’s founder, P. Scott Cunningham, and she fell in love with the mythology of what was then known as the University of Wynwood. She learned of a job opening with them. Cummings credits her ease into the role “not because I had experience as a published author, but due to my deep curiosity about Miami and ability to execute the vision of Miami. Especially since my contacts were not exclusive to just one industry.”
(Courtesy O, Miami)
Chain Letters event during the 2024 Poetry Festival brought poems to the masses, even on construction fences.
It was her large network of supporting friends in those varying industries that allowed her to leverage relationships and produce a festival, the textbook definition of a grassroots effort.
Cummings joined the staff in anticipation of the second full O, Miami Poetry Festival. “I hit the ground running, steering the direction of the festival,” she said. “I was brought in as part of the administrative staff and it turned out it was a good fit.”
She eventually rose to the role of operations manager and throughout the years, she realized O, Miami is an “endeavor of the entire community and it sparked this magic,” Cummings said. “It always felt bigger than it really was.”
Along on this co-helming adventure with Cummings is Caroline Cabrera who shares the same passion for O, Miami. Cabrera moved back to Miami in 2012 after completing her graduate degree. She heard about O, Miami from her aunt, who listens to WLRN 91.3 FM.
(Chantal Lawrie and Val Lopez)
O, Miami Artistic Director Caroline Cabrera and her daughter at the 2024 Poetry in Pajamas event.
“She told me about O, Miami and I was immediately interested,” said Cabrera. “I read my poetry at one of their events and began attending and volunteering at other events.”
At the time, she was teaching at the college level but yearned to be involved in poetry and education, so she reached out to Cummings and was hired as a contractor for curriculum development and leading workshops.
“In 2020 I became education coordinator and quickly realized this was a job I manifested through all my dreams,” said Cabrera.
After working together for four years, Cummings and Cabera knew they would apply to lead O, Miami as co-directors.
“Once Caroline and I decided to share this co-executive leadership, it just felt so natural,” said Cummings. “We had such a clear path on how to execute our vision, so I felt confident once we submitted the application,”
They knew the idea of applying as co-directors was a bit radical and “would require harnessing the collective superpowers we have, forcing us to expand and examine the systems that do and do not work,” Cummings said.
Both Cummings and Cabrera, who took their new positions July 1, know they have the unanimous support of the organization’s Board of Directors. “It felt great, them giving us a seal of approval,” said Cummings.
(Chantal Lawrie)
Poetry can be found in the most unexpected places during the Festival, like on tickets and stickers.
The deeply authentic teamwork that happens on every level and how so many of their successes and joys are a result of true collaboration, resonate deeply with Cabrera.
“Relying on the strengths of so many individuals to make O, Miami happen, it just made sense to co-lead,” said Cabrera. “As soon as we decided this, it felt like something we could really own, and it would preserve the work in a really exciting way.”
Preserving the already successful model that is O, Miami while also growing and expanding their reach is their goal. One of the first tasks is expanding their current employee roster of five full-timers.
(Chantal Lawrie)
A scene from the 2024 Zip Odes Finale Reading at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens.
Also, they both want people to see O, Miami as an educational resource and regional publisher. Over the years, they have grown tremendously as an organization, so letting the community know of their year-round work is another goal.
“We are doing educational work 52 weeks a year, with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, hosting a summer apprenticeship program, working as publishers, all of which are vital and such an incubator for the city,” said Cabrera.
They will publish their first children’s book in November illustrated by Miami’s own @Westofchester on Instagram. “The book will be a very Miami poetry book with each letter of the alphabet, including the Spanish ñ included,” said Cummings.
That will be followed by a robust book dedicated to O, Miami’s popular Zip Odes program to celebrate a decade of the quirky five-line poems submitted by the community about their specific zip codes.
“The Zip Odes book will feature 130 poems from Monroe County to West Palm Beach,” said Cummings. “Many residents from the Biscayne corridor demographic will be represented in this book.”
Learn more about O, Miami, their year-round programming, publishing work, and the festival at https://omiami.org/