Forging Your Own Creative Path with Oscar Fuentes

Artists often feel pressured to wait for the perfect opportunity, posting their work and hoping to be noticed by a client, buyer, or brand. Poet Oscar Fuentes (a.k.a. The Biscayne Poet) shows that opportunity begins with passion and dedication to craft. With more than 10 publications and a series of poetry residencies in Miami, Oscar proves that your dream career starts with you. His latest work, Biscayne Inferno, is now available at Books & Books.

Oscar Fuentes was born in Manhattan, New York, to Honduran parents. He has been an active, multi-disciplinary artist for over 30 years, connecting Miami audiences with live typewriter poetry and events. For his contributions to the literary community in Miami, Fuentes was awarded the inaugural Miami-Dade Mayoral Poetry Commendation by Mayor Daniella Levine Cava in 2021.

We asked Oscar Fuentes some questions about his career to reflect on his literary journey and the opportunities he’s had to get where he is.

As of now, you have over 10 publications to your name. How would you reflect on the journey that brought you here and what you’ve learned so far?

"I’ve been blessed to have published over ten books, and each feels like a different part of me—a diary I didn’t expect to write but was compelled to. The path here has been full of detours, heartbreak, and discovery. I’ve learned that poetry and storytelling resist being forgotten and losing yourself. Writing taught me to hold on to what time and circumstance try to erase. Each book helps me survive and make sense of the chaos that life and this city share."

You mentioned Biscayne Inferno having been an 'interesting' development. Can you elaborate on the process of getting this book published?

"A little over twenty years ago, I was living in this small apartment off Northeast 2nd Avenue and 33rd Street. My window overlooked a building with a chimney I’d never paid much attention to, until one day I started noticing a layer of dust collecting on my windowsill. I’d clean it, and it would come right back. One evening, I went downstairs, looked up at that building, and saw the sign: Van Orsdel Crematorium."

"That realization hit me hard. The dust on my windowsill wasn’t just dust, and the faint BBQ smell in the hallway wasn’t what I thought it was. That moment burned itself into my memory and became the seed for a series of poems and short stories that, years later, came together as Biscayne Inferno and Other Stories. It’s strange how one small, unsettling moment can echo for decades and eventually turn into a book."

Biscayne Inferno also appears to have a distinct tone compared to your other works. How would you describe this shift in style and the way you approach Miami as a location?

"Biscayne Inferno definitely has a different tone from my earlier work. It’s darker, more cinematic, more haunted. In it, I finally allowed myself to blend the personal and the mythical, the Miami I live in and the Miami that exists in my imagination. While writing it, I realized that the flood that destroys the city in the story was also a metaphor for something deeply personal, my father’s Alzheimer’s. His memory loss felt like a tsunami, erasing everything familiar. So the story became about survival, but also about memory, how remembering itself becomes an act of resistance."

"And at the same time, it’s a warning, a kind of love letter and cautionary tale for Miami, a city I adore but also fear for, especially now that we live in this strange, apocalyptic-feeling America where chaos has become normal."

You’ve also mentioned 'creating' your own opportunities as a poet, like advocating for a residency at The Betsy Hotel. What advice would you give to young artists trying to pave their own careers?

"I've always believed in creating my own opportunities. After my initial Writer's Room residency at the Betsy Hotel, I pitched the Poet-in-Residence concept to the Vagabond and 1 Hotel South Beach. It felt risky, but I did it anyway. People responded positively and valued the presence of a poet."

"So my advice to young artists would be: don’t be afraid to propose your ideas, even the ones that sound impossible. If you believe in what you’re doing, that belief becomes contagious. This is Miami, a city that thrives on new ideas and reinvention. When you put yourself at the center of that creative energy, you become indispensable. You become part of the city’s pulse."

Finally, what projects are you looking forward to in the future?

"This year has been wild. Somehow, I managed to publish two books, Poetry City / Ciudad Poesía with Indie Earth Books, and Biscayne Inferno and Other Stories with Jitney Books, while also working with Glickman Media on a feature-length documentary called Poetry City. The film, along with a few poetry and jazz performances, will come together around the Miami Book Fair this year."

"After that, I’m looking forward to a year filled with creative collaborations, typewriter activations, live performances, and community events with Books & Books in the Grove. My plan is to keep promoting both books through art, music, and film, keeping poetry alive and moving in as many directions as possible."

You can follow Oscar Fuentes through his social media at @TheBiscaynePoet and contact/book him for events through thebiscaynepoet@gmail.com