Robert Flor

Robert Francis Flor was raised in the city’s Central Area and Rainier Valley. He is a graduate of Seattle University and the University of Oregon. His poems have appeared in the Soundings Review, Four Cornered Universe, 4 and 20 Journal, the Wanderlust Journal, the Tamafyhr Mountain Poetry Review, Poets Against the War, the Seattle Post Intelligencer (2005), the “Field of Mirrors” anthology (2008), The Baseball Bard (2013), and Poetry on the Buses (2015) . In 2012, his poetry was published in two anthologies: “Voices of the Asian American Experience” and The Thymos Book Project, Portland.  He completed the Artist Trust 2010 EDGE Writers Development Program. He was the Poets & Writers, Inc. April 2012 Writer in Residence blogger.

He is a member of the Washington Poets Association, Artist Trust, Filipino Community of Seattle – Kultura Arts, Pacific Northwest Writers Association, the Academy of American Poets and the Dramatist Guild of America.

Annually, he co-produces the Pagdiriwang Festival’s Words Expressed event, hosting readings by Filipino-American writers, poets and dramatists. He takes poetry and creative writing courses through UW Experimental College, Bellevue College, Richard Hugo House, and playwriting from Freehold Theatre, ACT Theater, and Seattle Repertory Theatre. He has been served in numerous community activities including Pacific Arts Center, Seattle Center Advisory Committee, ArtsWest Theatre, and Wing Luke Asian Museum.

Robert is currently writing plays based around the Filipino community in Seattle. His first play was “Daniel’s Mood – Mestizos”. Seattle Theatre Readers have also performed two of his 10 minute plays “The Teachers” (2009) and “Silk and War” (2012).  He is currently developing three full-length plays “The FAYTs – The Filipino American Young Turks”, “My Uncle’s Letters.”  The former was read at the Burien Actors Theater in 2015 and scenes from the latter in the Multicultural Playwrights Festival at ACT Theatre in 2014. “Mabuhay Majesty” was written in 2015.

His 10 minute plays “The Injury” (2013), “Pinoy Hill” (2014) and “Pinakbet” were performed in the Eclectic Theater Short Play Festival. “Salamangka’s Barber Shop” (2015) was read at Burien Actors Theatre.  “The FAYTs”  also took eighth place in the Stage Play category of the Writer’s Digest’s 2013 Annual Competition and was read at Burien Actors Theatre in 2015.

Robert received 2015 GAP Award funding to finalize his project “Alaskero Memories”, a small series of twelve poems recounting his coming of age experience as a salmon cannery worker on the Filipino crew in King Cove, Alaska during the 1960s. The funds will allow the completion of research, artist fees, publishing, and marketing for public readings.