Electric Literature is pleased to reveal the cover of Self-Portrait as the “i” in Florida by P. Scott Cunningham, which will be published on April 7th, 2026 by Autumn House Press. You can pre-order your copy here.
A love letter to Miami and a meditation on fatherhood, Self-Portrait as the “i” in Florida paints a vivid portrait of contemporary South Florida in all its contradictions and beauty. Selected by Major Jackson as the winner of the Donald Justice Poetry Prize, Cunningham’s second collection weaves together ecological and familial landscapes, capturing both the spectacle—burning sugarcane fields, snake farms, chaotic highways—and the daily rituals that bind a family: school drop-offs, sick days, and small kindnesses. Blending formalist and free verse, the book becomes both an inquiry into belonging and a celebration of the essential everyday moments that define a life. At once panoramic and deeply personal, Cunningham writes with a documentarian’s eye and a father’s heart.
Here is the cover, designed by Gabriel Alcala:
P. Scott Cunningham: This book is a love letter to Miami. Many of the poems are tagged with a specific location in the city, or honor a particular Miami moment or person, as I wanted the poems to portray the city how I experienced it, namely intimately, and with joy. As such, it was very important to me that the cover design was made by a Miamian. I’ve known Gabe for almost two decades. Even though we’d never collaborated before, I’ve always been a huge fan of his work and dreamed about making something together. In fact, in retrospect, I think I was waiting until I thought I’d done something that was worthy of his talents, and I hope that’s true! But if not, buying the book is still worth it to have an original Gabriel Alcala on your shelf. His style and use of color feel inextricable to me from the Miami I love—a place of supremely talented and caring people. As the city is currently being attacked and dismantled by outside forces, I think it’s important to remind folks that Miami is one of the great artistic hotbeds in the world, and every inch of it is worth fighting for. Gabe and his work embody that spirit, and I’m super honored that he agreed to work on this project.
Gabriel Alcala: I was truly honored when Scott asked me to design the cover. The title immediately struck a chord, and ideas began to bloom. I soon imagined a hand holding a mirror amid Florida’s flora and fauna, an image that invites the reader to look both outward and inward at once.
The post Exclusive Cover Reveal of “Self-Portrait as the ‘i’ in Florida” by P. Scott Cunningham appeared first on Electric Literature.
