Just wanted to share what my husband, John, wrote when he nominated me for Gloucester Poet Laureate. Thanks for writing and submitting this John!
Genevieve “Viva” Andrada - O’Flynn, your candidate for poet laureate
6,727 miles! That’s a long way. A long way to pick up your life and relocate far away. Why would someone do this? Leave the life and the world that had known behind and move so far away? 6,727 miles.
And when they get there, where would they live? What would their new community, their new home, the people that live there, be like?
This is exactly what Genevieve “Viva” Andrada-O’Flynn did and what she faced just a few years ago. But the place she moved was Gloucestershire, a place she has found matches her love of the arts and a society that she adapted too with ease. She has grown to love our county for all its aspects. Its beauty and its history. The architecture of Cheltenham, the history of Gloucester and the wild beauty of its hills.
This is exactly what Genevieve “Viva” Andrada-O’Flynn did and what she faced just a few years ago. But the place she moved was Gloucestershire, a place she has found matches her love of the arts and a society that she adapted too with ease. She has grown to love our county for all its aspects. Its beauty and its history. The architecture of Cheltenham, the history of Gloucester and the wild beauty of its hills.
Viva has integrated in Gloucestershire with the kind of success that many born and breed locals never achieve. She has become a significant contributor to our community here as well and is now a member of the Gloucester Civic Trust. She is a continuous presence in the local business community, on the art circuits and a significant addition to the literature population of the county. Giving much of her time gratis, gaining nothing but a sense of pride for her civic responsibility towards her adopted Gloucestershire.
When Instagram refused to start an official page for Gloucester because Bristol already had one, Viva established her own version, now followed by everyone from the mayor and MP’s to the Glos.info website.#Glowgloucester
That’s what she can do after 6,727 miles.
Viva moved here from the Philippines where she wrote her first poetry book at age 17, and immediately became a member of the quite extensive Filipino community we have in this country. She is influencing this community to expand its events and activities, to demonstrate the beauty of the Filipino culture to the wider Gloucestershire populous and make a more integrated presence for all. In doing so she has again, single-handed, man the Philippines booth at the Barton and Tredworth Cultural Fayre, also entertaining the diverse crowd with readings of her poetry.
Viva moved here from the Philippines where she wrote her first poetry book at age 17, and immediately became a member of the quite extensive Filipino community we have in this country. She is influencing this community to expand its events and activities, to demonstrate the beauty of the Filipino culture to the wider Gloucestershire populous and make a more integrated presence for all. In doing so she has again, single-handed, man the Philippines booth at the Barton and Tredworth Cultural Fayre, also entertaining the diverse crowd with readings of her poetry.
Viva’s essence very much belongs in the arts, whether it be her crafts, her art, her cakes and of course her writing. She is an active member of the Gloucester Poetry Society. She has published three poetry books in total, receiving great reviews in here homeland. All have a sunny and positive style, reflecting her personality and hinting at a history unfamiliar with a Gloucestershire winter. Definitely a summer person.
The last three years has seen a watershed moment in the UK. The BREXIT vote has given some an excuse to voice divisive and distasting sentiment. Yet our county, particularly Cheltenham and Gloucester, remains a warm, welcoming multicultural community, in the heart of traditional rural England. What better way to emphasis our continued acceptance of all who continue to add to our fair county, whether they be Anglo-Saxon or from much further afield, by allowing a member of our Asian community to promote and forward Gloucestershire as a haven for poetry and the arts.
I hereby ask you to consider “Viva Andrada-O’Flynn” for the post of Gloucestershire Poet Laureate.
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