Meet Oscar Fuentes, “The Biscayne Poet” (@thebiscaynepoet), whose love for prose blossomed at a young age under his mother’s guidance. With his narrative hand right at the pulse of Miami’s heartbeat, Fuentes creates heartfelt, immersive poetry where beauty, pain and nostalgia intertwine. Inspired by Miami’s vibrant sunset hues and emotional landmarks, Fuentes sheds light on his artistic process and what inspires him to create.

When did your love of poetry begin?

My love of poetry started at an early age when my mother used to read poetry to me and my siblings. I was in love with how she recited the poems she had memorized and the ones she would read out loud with her sweet, nurturing voice. I always looked forward to her reading poetry to us her favorite Neruda poems or reciting and performing her memorized Vallejo and Borges poems. Today, I know that even from that young age, my mom and I, when it came to poetry, we were like two dreamers dreaming the exact same dream.

Can you explain to us your writing process?

The writing process differs from when I write for the public with my typewriter versus when I write for myself on my laptop. The prompt for my public typewritten personalized poetry is simple (Name + 3 Words = A Poem). I usually tell people to think of three words describing how they feel or would like to feel. I use the name they give me as the poem’s title, and then I get started on the structure. In the fifteen-plus years I’ve been writing live in the South Florida area–and after writing for thousands of people using their three words–I have learned that everyone is looking for a poem that says to them: I love you that it’s all going to be okay that self-love comes first and that our broken hearts will eventually heal. I have also learned that we are not that different. So I search for the three words in all my lived experiences and, in a way, pretend I’m writing myself that poem, and in turn, the poems end up ringing true and sometimes prophetic to most strangers I write for, who cease to be strangers at that very moment of poetic connection.

What inspires you?

The afternoon light in Miami inspires me, and how the red, purple clouds reflect on the still waters of Biscayne Bay inspires me. Other Miami elements, like Biscayne Boulevard with its Art-Deco buildings at sundown when the neon lights start flickering or when the Biscayne breeze flows into my 1974 Dodge Dart while I cruise down Old Cutler Road.

What’s your favorite part about what you do?

Seeing people’s emotional reactions to their freshly baked poems, for me that’s the full circle of my efforts, instantaneous feedback that confirms in so many ways that this visceral art form of mine works, it resounds in others, it heals me and them, the way a social service does for both, the social worker and immediate community.

What do you hope to bring to the world?

Love, unity and peace through poetry.

What is your favorite part about living in Miami?

The cafeterias with their little Ventanitas, where you can order your cafecito in Spanglish and feel that you live in a kind of paradise where you can live out your dreams and be that typewriter poet who drives a vintage car with a trunk full of typewriters.

Describe yourself in three words

Passionate, empathetic, poetic.