Estrella Alfon

Alfon died on December 28, 1983, following a heart attack suffered on-stage during the Manila Film Festival Awards Night.

Alfon had several children: Alan Rivera, Esmeralda "Mimi" Rivera, Brian Alfon, Estrella "Twinkie" Alfon, and Rita "Daday" Alfon (deceased). She had ten grandchildren. Her youngest daughter was a stewardess for Saudi Arabian Airlines, and was part of the Flight 163 crew on August 19, 1980, when an in-flight fire forced the aircraft to land in Riyadh. A delayed evacuation resulted in the death of all aboard the flight.

In spite of having only a basic A.A. degree, she was eventually appointed as a professor of Creative Writing at the University of the Philippines, Manila. She held the National Fellowship in Fiction post at the U.P. Creative Writing Center in 1979. She would also serve on the Philippine Board of Tourism in the 1970s.

In the 1950s, her short story, "Fairy Tale for the City", was condemned by the Catholic League of the Philippines as being "obscene". She was even brought to court on these charges. While many of her fellow writers did stand by her, some did not. These events hurt her deeply.

While a student in Cebu when, Alfon published her first short stories, in periodicals such as Graphic Weekly Magazine, Philippine Magazine, and the Sunday Tribune. She was a prolific storywriter, playwright, and journalist. In spite of being a Cebuana, she wrote almost exclusively in English. She published her first story, “Grey Confetti”, in the Graphic in 1935. Alfon was at times charged with sloppy writing and suspected of writing exclusively for profit, rather than passion.

She was the only female member of the Veronicans, an avant-garde group of writers in the 1930s led by Francisco Arcellana and H.R. Ocampo, being also regarded as their muse. The Veronicans are recognized as the first group of Filipino writers to write almost exclusively in English and were formed prior to the World War II. Alfon was a regular contributor to Manila-based national magazines, having several stories cited in Jose Garcia Villa’s annual honor rolls. Thelma E. Arambulo described her in the following way:

Estrella D. Alfon (July 18, 1917 – December 28, 1983) was a Filipina author who wrote in English. She held an AA degree from the University of the Philippines and was a member of the UP Writers Club.

Estrella Alfon was born in Cebu City in 1917. Her parents were shopkeepers. She attended college, studying medicine. After being mistakenly diagnosed with tuberculosis and sent to a sanitarium, she resigned from her pre-medical education, leaving with an Associate of Arts degree.