Isabel Allende

Chilean writer

Isabel Allende is a renowned Chilean-American writer known for her novels like The House of the Spirits and City of the Beasts. She is acclaimed for incorporating magical realism in her work and has been recognized with prestigious awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

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About the Isabel Allende

Isabel Angelica Allende Llonais a Chilean-American writer. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the genre magical realism, is known for novels such as The House of the Spiritsand City of the Beasts (La ciudad de las bestias, 2002), which have been commercially successful. Allende has been called “the world’s most widely read Spanish-language author.” In 2004, Allende was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in 2010, she received Chile’s National Literature Prize. President Barack Obama awarded her the 2014 Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Allende’s novels are often based upon her personal experience and historical events and pay homage to the lives of women, while weaving together elements of myth and realism. She has lectured and toured U.S. colleges to teach literature. Fluent in English, Allende was granted United States citizenship in 1993, having lived in California since 1989.

Frequently Asked Questions

Isabel Allende is a Chilean-American writer who is known for her novels that often incorporate elements of magical realism, such as The House of the Spirits and City of the Beasts.

Isabel Allende’s writing style is known for blending personal experiences, historical events, and elements of myth and realism, with a focus on honoring the lives of women.

Isabel Allende has received numerous accolades, including being inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2004, receiving Chile’s National Literature Prize in 2010, and being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2014.

Isabel Allende was born on August 2, 1942 in Santiago, Chile.

Isabel Allende was granted United States citizenship in 1993 after living in California since 1989.

Isabel Allende is known as one of the world’s most widely read Spanish-language authors, with her novels often featuring elements of magical realism and a focus on the lives of women.

Yes, Allende has lectured and toured U.S. colleges to teach literature, sharing her expertise and passion for writing.

9 Quotes by Isabel Allende

  1. 1.

    Heart is what drives us and determines our fate. That is what I need for my characters in my books: a passionate heart. I need mavericks, dissidents, adventurers, outsiders and rebels, who ask questions, bend the rules and take risks.

    Isabel Allende

    Chilean writer

  2. 2.

    I’m aware of the mystery around us, so I write about coincidences, premonitions, emotions, dreams, the power of nature, magic.

    Isabel Allende

    Chilean writer

  3. 3.

    I can promise you that women working together – linked, informed and educated – can bring peace and prosperity to this forsaken planet.

    Isabel Allende

    Chilean writer

  4. 4.

    Erotica is using a feather, pornography is using the whole chicken.

    Isabel Allende

    Chilean writer

  5. 5.

    All stories interest me, and some haunt me until I end up writing them. Certain themes keep coming up: justice, loyalty, violence, death, political and social issues, freedom.

    Isabel Allende

    Chilean writer

  6. 6.

    I was born in ancient times, at the end of the world, in a patriarchal Catholic and conservative family. No wonder that by age five I was a raging feminist – although the term had not reached Chile yet, so nobody knew what the heck was wrong with me.

    Isabel Allende

    Chilean writer

  7. 7.

    Feminism is dated? Yes, for privileged women like my daughter and all of us here today, but not for most of our sisters in the rest of the world who are still forced into premature marriage, prostitution, forced labor – they have children that they don’t want or they cannot feed.

    Isabel Allende

    Chilean writer

  8. 8.

    We want a world where life is preserved, and the quality of life is enriched for everybody, not only for the privileged.

    Isabel Allende

    Chilean writer

  9. 9.

    What I fear most is power with impunity. I fear abuse of power, and the power to abuse.

    Isabel Allende

    Chilean writer