Dean Francis Alfar
Encyclopedia
Dean Francis Alfar is a Filipino
playwright, novelist and writer of speculative fiction
. His plays have been performed in venues across the country, while his articles and fiction have been published both in his native Philippines
and abroad, such as in Strange Horizons
, Rabid Transit, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror and the Exotic Gothic series.
His literary awards include ten Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature (Palanca Awards)
— including the Grand Prize for Novel
for Salamanca (Ateneo Press, 2006)— as well as the Manila Critics' Circle National Book Awards for the graphic novels Siglo: Freedom and Siglo: Passion, and the Philippines Free Press Literary Award.
He was a fellow at the 1992 Dumaguete National Writers Workshop and 20th UP National Writers Workshop.
He is an advocate of the literature of the fantastic, editing the Philippine Speculative Fiction series, as well as a comic book creator and a blogger.
Alfar is also an entrepreneur
— running several businesses. He lives in Manila
with his wife, fictionist Nikki Alfar and their two daughters.
Gintong Aklat Awards
Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature
Manila Critics' Circle National Book Awards
Philippines Free Press Literary Awards
Fellowships
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
playwright, novelist and writer of speculative fiction
Speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...
. His plays have been performed in venues across the country, while his articles and fiction have been published both in his native Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and abroad, such as in Strange Horizons
Strange Horizons
Strange Horizons is an online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry in every issue....
, Rabid Transit, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror and the Exotic Gothic series.
His literary awards include ten Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature (Palanca Awards)
Palanca Awards
The Palanca Awards or Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature is the Philippines' most prestigious and most enduring literary awards and is dubbed as the "Pulitzer Prize" of the Philippines...
— including the Grand Prize for Novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
for Salamanca (Ateneo Press, 2006)— as well as the Manila Critics' Circle National Book Awards for the graphic novels Siglo: Freedom and Siglo: Passion, and the Philippines Free Press Literary Award.
He was a fellow at the 1992 Dumaguete National Writers Workshop and 20th UP National Writers Workshop.
He is an advocate of the literature of the fantastic, editing the Philippine Speculative Fiction series, as well as a comic book creator and a blogger.
Alfar is also an entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
— running several businesses. He lives in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
with his wife, fictionist Nikki Alfar and their two daughters.
Awards
Philippine Graphic Fiction Awards- 2010 - Prose (Remembrance)
Gintong Aklat Awards
- 2008 - Literature (Salamanca)
Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature
- 20072007 Palanca AwardsThe Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature winners in the year 2007 . The Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards was held on September 1, 2007.- Filipino Division :Dulang Pampelikula...
- for short story for Children (Poor, Poor Luisa) - 20062006 Palanca AwardsThe Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature winners in the year 2006 .-English division:Short story* First Prize: Mahogany Water by Socorro Villanueva...
- for short story for Children (How Rosang Taba Won the Race) - 20052005 Palanca AwardsThe Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature winners in the year 2005 :-English Division:Novel* Grand Prize: "Salamanca" by Dean Francis AlfarShort Story...
- for the novel (Salamanca) - 20042004 Palanca AwardsThe Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature winners in the year 2004 :-English Division:Futuristic Fiction*First Prize: Irene Carolina Sarmiento, "They Don't Bite"...
- for futuristic fiction (Hollow Girl) - 20042004 Palanca AwardsThe Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature winners in the year 2004 :-English Division:Futuristic Fiction*First Prize: Irene Carolina Sarmiento, "They Don't Bite"...
- for one-act play (The Kite of Stars) - 20032003 Palanca AwardsThe Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature winners in the year 2003 :-English Division:Poetry*First Prize: Isidoro Cruz, "Bodies Of Water"*Second Prize: Angelo Suarez, "Exploratoria"...
- for one-act play (The Onan Circle) - 19941994 Palanca AwardsThe Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature winners in the year 1994 .-English division:Short story*First Prize: “The Flight” by Katrina Tuvera*Second Prize: “Sanded Soles” by Ma...
- for full-length play (Island) - 19941994 Palanca AwardsThe Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature winners in the year 1994 .-English division:Short story*First Prize: “The Flight” by Katrina Tuvera*Second Prize: “Sanded Soles” by Ma...
- for one-act play (Loving Toto) - 19911991 Palanca AwardsThe Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature winners in the year 1991 .-English division:Short story*First Prize: “Portents” by Jessica Zafra*Second Prize: “The Music Child” by Alfred A. Yuson...
- for one-act play (Short Time) - 19901990 Palanca AwardsThe Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature winners in the year 1990 :-English Division:Novel*Grand Prize Winner: Azucena Grajo Uranza, “Bamboo in the Wind"Short Story*Special Prizes...
- for one-act play (Fragments of Memory)
Manila Critics' Circle National Book Awards
- 2006- Best Comic Book (Siglo: Passion)
- 2004- Best Comic Book (Siglo: Freedom)
Philippines Free Press Literary Awards
- 2007 - for short story (Six from Downtown)
Fellowships
- 31st National Writers' Workshop, Dumaguete (1992) - Writing Fellow
- 20th U.P. National Writers' Workshop (1992) - Writing Fellow
- 48th U.P. National Writers' Workshop (2009) - Writing Fellow
Books
- Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol. 1, Kestrel, December 2005. (Anthology of short fiction)
- Salamanca, Ateneo de Manila UniversityAteneo de Manila UniversityThe Ateneo de Manila University is a private teaching and research university run by the Society of Jesus in the Philippines. It began in 1859 when the City of Manila handed control of the Escuela Municipal de Manila in Intramuros, Manila, to the Jesuits...
Press, April 2006. Grand Prize Winner for Novel, Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, 2005. - Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol. 2, Kestrel, December 2006. (Anthology of short fiction)
- Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol. 3, Kestrel, December 2007. (with Nikki Alfar, Anthology of short fiction)
- The Kite of Stars and Other Stories, Anvil Publishing, 2007. (Collection of short fiction)
- Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol. 4, Kestrel, February, 2009. (with Nikki Alfar, Anthology of short fiction)
- How Rosang Taba Won The Race, Lampara Publishing. (Children's book, forthcoming)
Short Fiction
- “The Fortune-teller's Beautiful Daughter” in Philippines Graphic, July 2011
- “Packing for the Moon” in Philippines Free Press, June 2011
- “The Malaya” forthcoming in Diaspora Ad Astra, edited by Joseph Nacino & Emil Flores, 2011
- “Securing Doors from Fathers” forthcoming in Isolation Remembers What Repetition Forgets, edited by Luis Katigbak, AnvilAnvilAn anvil is a basic tool, a block with a hard surface on which another object is struck. The inertia of the anvil allows the energy of the striking tool to be transferred to the work piece. In most cases the anvil is used as a forging tool...
, 2011 - "A Door Opens: The Beginning of the Fall of the Ispancialo-in-Hinirang (Emprensa Press: 2007)” by Salahuddin Alonto, Annotated by Omar Jamad Maududi, MLS, HOL, JMS" forthcoming in Alternative Alamat, edited by Paolo Chikiamco, Rocket Kapre Books, 2011
- “Simon's Replica” in Philippines Free Press, May 2010
- “Bruhita” in Exotic Gothic III, edited by Danel Olson, Ash-Tree Press, 2009
- “Ghosts of Wan Chai” in Connecting Flights: Nineteen Filipinos Report From Elsewhere, edited by Ruel de Vera, AnvilAnvilAn anvil is a basic tool, a block with a hard surface on which another object is struck. The inertia of the anvil allows the energy of the striking tool to be transferred to the work piece. In most cases the anvil is used as a forging tool...
, December 2009 - “In the Dim Plane” in Bewildering Stories, issue 366, January 2010
- “The Kite of Stars” in The Apex Book of World SF, edited by Lavie TidharLavie TidharLavie Tidhar is an Israeli born writer. He lived in the United Kingdom and South Africa for long periods of time. He had also lived in Vanuatu and Laos.-Early life:Tidhar grew up in the communal atmosphere of an Israeli Kibbutz...
, ApexApex DigestApex Magazine, also previously known as Apex Digest, is an American horror and science fiction magazine which began publishing in 2005 out of Lexington, Kentucky. In 2008, Apex Digest ceased printing the American digest size print version and opted to move the magazine online. This free webzine,...
2009 - “Something Like That” in Growing Up Filipino II, edited by Cecilia Manguerra-Brainard, December 2009
- “How My Mother Flew” in Growing Up Filipino II, edited by Cecilia Manguerra-Brainard, December 2009
- “The Music Teacher” in Growing Up Filipino II, edited by Cecilia Manguerra-Brainard, December 2009
- “Strange Weather” in The Farthest ShoreThe Farthest ShoreThe Farthest Shore is the third of a series of books written by Ursula K. Le Guin and set in her fantasy archipelago of Earthsea, first published in 1972. It follows on from The Tombs of Atuan, which itself was a sequel to A Wizard of Earthsea. It is the Earthsea series novel which inspired the...
, edited by Joseph Nacino & Dean Francis Alfar, 2009; and in Philippine Speculative Fiction 5. edited by Nikki Alfar and Vincent Michael Simbulan (Kestrel, 2010) - “Messiah” in Dark Blue Southern Seas 2009, edited by F. Jordan Carnice, April 2009
- “Fallow's Flight” in A Time for Dragons, edited by Vincent Michael Simbulan, Anvil Fantasy, March 2009
- “Report HC-IK017785A-0097B-006 de Ocampo: Survey of Artifacts Found in the Derelict Vessel The Malaya” in Philippines Free Press, November 2008.
- “I, D.I." in Belonging: Stories of Relationships, edited by Erlinda Panlilio, AnvilAnvilAn anvil is a basic tool, a block with a hard surface on which another object is struck. The inertia of the anvil allows the energy of the striking tool to be transferred to the work piece. In most cases the anvil is used as a forging tool...
, October 2008 - “Remembrance” in Exotic Gothic II, edited by Danel Olson, Ash-Tree Press, September 2008
- “The Maiden and the Crocodile” reprint in Bewildering Stories, September 2008.
- “The Many Loves of Ramil Alonzo” in Philippines Free Press, August 2008.
- “Sunboy” in Philippines Free Press, May 2008.
- “In the Dim Plane” in Digest of Philippine Genre Stories, April 2008.
- “The Middle Prince” in Tales of Fantasy and Enchantment, edited by Cristina Pantoja-HidalgoCristina Pantoja-HidalgoCristina Pantoja-Hidalgo is an award-winning Filipina fictionist, critic and pioneering writer of creative nonfiction....
, February 2008 - “An Excerpt from 'Princes of the Sultanate' (Ghazali: 1902); Annotated by Omar Jamad Maududi, MLS, HOL, JMS” in Story Philippines, February 2008
- “Chasing Aurora" in Sunday Inquirer Magazine of the Philippine Daily InquirerPhilippine Daily InquirerThe Philippine Daily Inquirer, popularly known as the Inquirer, is the most widely read broadsheet newspaper in the Philippines, with a daily circulation of 260,000 copies. It is one of the Philippines' newspapers of record...
, November 2007. - “Ever, After” in Philippines Free Press, August 2007.
- “Into the Morning” in Bewildering Stories, July 2007.
- “The Dragon in the Bell” in Philippines Free Press, June 2007.
- “Sabados con Fray Villalobos” in A la Carte; Food and Fiction, edited by Cecilia Manguerra-Brainard and Marily Orosa (February 2007).
- “The Middle Prince” in Bewildering Stories, September 2006; Digest of Philippine Genre Stories, December 2006
- “How Rosang Taba Won A Race” in Philippines Free Press, July 2006.
- “Six From Downtown” in Philippines Free Press, June 2006; Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol.2 (Kestrel, December 2006)
- “The Maiden and the Crocodile” in Story Philippines, March 2006.
- “Hollow Girl: A Romance” in Latitude: Writing from the Philippines and Scotland, edited by Angelo Rodriguez LacuestaAngelo Rodriguez LacuestaAmado Angelo Rodriguez Lacuesta is a Filipino writer, and winner of several awards for his short stories, including the Philippine Graphic Award, the Palanca Memorial Award and the NVM Gonzalez Awards.- Career :...
and Toni Davidson (Anvil Publishing, March 2006; Futuristic Fiction, Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, 2004). - “Four-letter Words” in Manual, January 2006.
- “Terminos” in Rabid Transit : Menagerie, (Velocity Press, U.S.A., May 2005).
- “L'Aquilone du Estrellas (The Kite of Stars)” in Strange Horizons, January 2003; in The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror Seventeenth Annual Collection, edited by Ellen DatlowEllen DatlowEllen Datlow is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror editor and anthologist.-Biography:Datlow was the fiction editor of Omni magazine and Omni Online from 1981 through 1998, and edited the ten associated Omni anthologies...
, Kelly LinkKelly LinkKelly Link is an American editor and author of short stories. While some of her fiction falls more clearly within genre categories, many of her stories might be described as slipstream or magic realism: a combination of science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, and realism...
& Gavin GrantGavin GrantGavin J. Grant is a science fiction editor and writer. He runs Small Beer Press along with his wife Kelly Link. In addition, he has been the editor of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet since 1996 and, from 2003 to 2008, was co-editor of the Year's Best Fantasy and Horror anthology series along with...
(St. Martin's Press, U.S.A., August 2004); and in Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol. 1, edited by Dean Francis Alfar (Kestrel, December 2005). - “Gumamela” in ab ovo 2 (Kestrel Studios, January 2003).
- “Ser Clessidrana Acerca Tiempo (Mr. Clessidrana Thinks About Time)” in Hinirang.com, 2002.
- “(push)” in Stuff Magazine, May 2001.
- “Spark: The Sad and Strange Tale of Sister Maria Dolores, the Nun who Exploded” in National Midweek, 1992.
- “The Last Mermaid Story” in National Midweek, 1992.
- “The Secret Measure” in National Midweek, 1992.
- “Magan & Balo” in Mr. & Ms. Magazine, 1991.
Comic Books
- Siglo: Passion, edited by Dean Francis Alfar & Vincent Michael Simbulan (Kestrel/Nautilus Books, 2005).
- The Craft Century in Project: Hero, edited by Elbert Or & Andrew Drilon (Questventures, 2005).
- Invitation in K.I.A., edited by Marco Dimaano (Alamat Comics, 2005).
- Quad in Hey Comics!, edited by Ramon de Veyra, 2004.
- Siglo: Freedom, edited by Dean Francis Alfar & Vincent Michael Simbulan (Kestrel/Nautilus Books, 2003).
- Ab Ovo 1, 2, edited by Dean Francis Alfar (Kestrel, 2002).
- The Lost 1, 2. Kestrel, 2001.
External links
- Notes from the Peanut Gallery - Dean Francis Alfar's blog.
- 31st National Writers' Workshop (Dumaguete)
- 20th U.P. National Writers Workshop