“Every human being has hundreds of separate people living under his skin. The talent of a writer is his ability to give them their separate names, identities, personalities and have them relate to other characters living with him”, - Mel Brooks[1]
Dean Francis Alfar is a Filipino playwright, novelist, and a writer of speculative fiction. His plays have been performed in places across the country, while his articles and fictions have been published both in the Philippines and abroad, such as in Strange Horizons, Rabid Transit and The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror and the Exotic Gothic series.[2]
He is an advocate of the "literature of the fantastic", editing the Philippine Speculative Fiction anthology series. He is an avid blogger, and founder of LitCritters, a group of writers, mostly from his circle of friends, who hold regular discussion groups and critiques.
Dean Francis Alfar was born in 1969 in Mandaluyong, though he, together with his family, lived in the United States for a number of years until they decided to come back to the Philippines. He currently lives in Manila with his wife, who is also a fictionist, Nikki Alfar, and their daughters Sage and Rowan, ages 9 and 3 years old.
He said that when he was a little boy, he was introduced to the world of reading by his mother at a very young age. It was because of her that he entered the world of books and grew to love them so much. He said that it has provided him the means of exploring other places and being able to travel to different locales and locations around the world or even beyond. He read all the books his mother has until he run out of it. He then went to the bookstores (he said there were no big bookstores yet at that time) to read and it also run out of books for him to read. He then decided that he would write books that he wanted to read and he was sure that there were many who also wanted to read those kinds of books specifically fictions. And most especially, he noticed that there were no Filipino writers who write fictions at that time, only foreign writers.
For him, Filipinos are more creative when it comes to writing than foreign ones but the problem is that mostly of Filipino books is a bit boring and poorly made, from the papers being used down to the production of the book. He said that we Filipinos have many stories to tell especially the imaginary tales from Mindanao. The only problem is that nobody wants to write it and make it a book. So then he started writing fictions and short stories and he was the first to write those kinds of books here in the Philippines.
His literary awards include ten Don Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature (Palanca Awards) including One-Act Play (Fragments of Memory) on 1990, One-Act Play (Short Time) on 1991, Full-Length Play (Island) and One-Act Play (Loving Toto) on 1994, One-Act Play (The Onan Circle) on 2003, One-Act Play (The Kite of Stars) and Futuristic Fiction (Hollow Girl: A Romance) on 2004, Novel (Salamanca) on 2005 that won the Grand Prize for Novel for that year which was published on Ateneo Press on 2006, Short Story for Children (How Rosang Taba Won the Race) on 2006, Short Story for Children (Poor, poor Luisa) on 2007; the Manila Critics’ Circle National Book Awards for the graphic novels (comic books) Siglo: Freedom on 2004 and Siglo: Passion on 2006; the Philippine Free Press Literary Awards for Short Story (Six From Downtown); the Gintong Aklat Awards for Literature for the novel Salamanca on 2008; and the Philippine Graphic Fiction Awards for the prose Remembrance on 2010.
Dean Francis Alfar is the first Filipino fictionist who won an award abroad over Stephen King’s work and of the other writers. When asked about how it feels to be a multi-awarded writer, he said that it had made him proud but kept his toes on the ground and inspired him to write more and more. It did not make him to stop writing because for him, an award for that year for instance will only be that good on that time but not for the next point in time. Artist for him doesn’t need an inspiration to write; artists write whenever they feel about writing and definitely have to finish it. According to him, there were many talented persons out there but cannot finish writing what they have started. Being a writer, one should also learn to accept negative comments or feedbacks over their works. You are not a good writer if you are not open to critique and criticisms and be too defensive over your works. In writing, one should learn that people have different preferences and you cannot please everybody all the time and as a writer, if you try to please everybody, you will fail. Part of being a writer is being courageous. Stand for something and what you are trying to say. A writer is an emotion-based and you need to manage your emotions. If your goal as a writer is to be loved by everybody, then you are not a writer.
To be a good writer, he said, one should first read. Reading any kind of books from different authors would gain someone different perspectives from writers and then practice writing even if it would not be a good one. For him, a writer must be productive; otherwise you cannot call yourself a writer. A writer should always seek to improve and know that you are only as good as the last thing you did. And if the last thing you did was 5 or 10 years ago, you are no longer a writer. You have to be relevant; not necessarily be politically relevant but certainly, culturally relevant, pop relevant. For him, if you are no longer read, you are already dead as an author.
When asked if he has not considered writing in news papers or be a media journalist, he retorted that he actually thought about it before and he thinks that if opportunity opens, he would like to try his hand at it. He does not think that he is too old learn the practice of journalism. It would be something different for him because it is an unusual switch and he cannot simply create something. It would be how to create a fact in a straightforward yet engaging manner. Fact is fiction and then fiction is fact. He said that he would really like to try it.
And when he was also asked that if after 10 or 20 years from now, does he still see his self writing and he answered with a big “YES”. He said that he intend to write for as long as he can. And when his hand become arthritic and he cannot write or hold a pen, he will dictate. And if his voice is lost, he is hoping that by that time there would be a technology man that would be able to track the letters from his eyes and it would write for him. For as long as he can, he want to tell stories. He would still want to write. He feels that there are many stories within him that he can tell, stories he can tell to his kids and stories that can inspire others to write their own stories. And he also feels that if every writer felt that way, then we would not just have more stories but we will be encouraging each other to write more. For as long as he can he will write until people tell him to stop because his stories are not good anymore. He even said that he feels happy whenever young ones win in Palanca Awards because they look at them as their future.
He shared that his parents wanted him to become a doctor, but he wished to pursue his dreams of being a writer. He switched courses, against the will of his parents and made peace with them later on. But he said that that was not a good example. He admitted that he was being disrespectful to his parents that time and did not even think of the consequences. He said that it is okay to do what you want and pursue your dream but be aware of the people you hurt along the way, be aware of the consequences that your actions take and be ready to stand for your convictions, good or bad. He honestly said that he is not a college graduate because he walked out of school when he decided to go against his parents will, but several academes such as University of the Philippines and Ateneo de Manila University and also abroad were offering him to teach but he refused them all telling them he does not have a diploma. But they told him that he does not need a diploma to teach with all his awards, but still, he declined the entire offer.
Dean Francis Alfar is a writer that has hundreds of separate people living under his skin. He has the ability to give them their separate identities and personalities and have them relate to other characters living with him. Yes, he regrets not having a diploma but he never permitted his lack of a degree to stop doing what he wants. He is not only a writer but also an entrepreneur who runs some businesses, such as a marketing company Kestrel IMC, pet store Petty Pets, digital center, taxi and food catering franchise. He has stated that being a writer in the Philippines, even an award-winning one, is not a stable career; it must be motivated by passion and desire for self-expression rather than fortune or fame. With everything he has and everything he attained, he remains to be a low-profile writer who lives his life like an ordinary person.
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