Estrella
Alfon was born in San Nicolas, Cebu City on March 27, 1917. She went to medical
school to finish her medicinal studies but when she was misdiagnosed for having
tuberculosis, she had to withdraw from her studies. She finished her education
with a degree in Associate of Arts instead.
She became
the first and only female member of the Veronicans, a group of writers in the
1930s, prior to the Second World War, led by Francisco Arceuana and H.R.
Ocampo. They were recognized as the first group of Filipino writers who wrote almost
exclusively in English. She was named the most prolific Filipina writer prior
to World War II.
Estrella
Alfon’s first story was “Grey Confetti” which was published in 1935. One of her
stories, Fairy Tale for the City, was condemned by the catholic League of the
Philippines for its being obscene. When she was brought to court for the trial,
some of her fellow writers stood by her but some did not and that hurt her
deeply.
She was
appointed professor of the Creative Writing at the University of the
Philippines, Manila despite having only an Associate of Arts degree. In 1940,
she won the Honorable Mention in the Commonwealth Literary Award for writing
her short story “Dear Esmeralda”. She took home all the awards in the Arena
Theater Play Writing Contest for four of her outstanding plays namely, “Losers
Keepers”, “strangers”, “Rice”, and “Beggar”. In 1961, she won the top prize in
the Palanca Contest for her story “With Patches of Many Hues”.
On December
28, 1983, during the awards night of the Manila Film Festival, she suffered a
heart attack which led to her death the same night.
Reference:
"Estrella Alfon Life and Works." Slideshare.net. 2013. Web. 2 March 2013. http://www.slideshare.net/nicoleartuz/estrella-alfon-life-and-works
Why does Estrella Alfon wrote the story of magnificence?