“As soon as we all sat down, Campbell, out of nowhere, declared that it was the first meeting of the ‘ Miami Poetry Collective,’ ” Cunningham said. Scott Cunningham, 35, went from FIU graduate student to Miami poetry impresario dates back to 2006, when Scott and some classmates from FIU’s Creative Writing MFA program met Campbell McGrath for beers on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. That night someone offered McGrath the perfect description of Cunningham’s body of work, which ranges from whimsical poetry journals to over-the-top literary events to a month-long poetry extravaganza every April called O, Miami: “Scott has the soul of a Broadway producer trapped in the body of a poet.” “This is not something I taught him,” he said. MacArthur “genius” grant winning poet Campbell McGrath, Scott’s teacher and mentor at FIU, marveled from the sidelines. They gathered around an outdoor boxing ring for the main event: Two professional boxers slugged it out, Scott and his fiancé read a poem they wrote together, then Matejka took the ring to read from The Big Smoke, his poetic dramatization of Jim Crow-era heavyweight champion Jack Johnson. Some of Miami’s top literary lights wandered under the tree canopy, munching on boxes of Cracker Jacks. It was held in the backyard of a 1920s home near the Wynwood and Design districts that have driven Miami’s arts explosion. “ The Big Book Party” last November did not disappoint. Respond soon, Scott suggested in the invite. What Scott meant by “old-fashioned” was the opposite: hip, retro, and not to be missed.
If you didn’t know Cunningham, you might read “old-fashioned” and think this was a poetry reading straight out of Downton Abbey, with cocktails served by coat-tailed waiters surrounded by leather-bound books. He’s throwing an “old-fashioned book party” in honor of poet Adrian Matejka, and you’re invited. Scott Cunningham style, was irresistible.
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