Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende ( Spanish: [isaβel aʝende] ( listen ) ; born August 2, 1942) is a Chilean-American writer. [1] [2] Allende, Whose works sometimes contain ‘aspects of the ” magic realist ” tradition, is famous for novels zoals The House of the Spirits ( La casa de los espíritus , 1982) and City of the Beasts ( La ciudad the add bestias , 2002), welke port leg Commercially successful. Allende has bone called “the world’s most widely read Spanish-language author”. [3] In 2004, Allende was inducted into tje American Academy of Arts and Letters , [4] and in 2010, she RECEIVED Chile’s National Literature Prize . [5] President Barack Obama Awarded re the 2014 Presidential Medal of Freedom . [6]

Allende’s novels are based upon of or in re 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 many American colleges to teach literature. Fluent in English as a second language, Allende was granted United States citizenship in 1993, maintaining lived in California with re American husband since 1989.

Biography

Allende was born Isabel Allende Llona in Lima , Peru , the daughter of Francisca Llona Barros and Tomás Allende, who was at the time a second secretary at the Chilean embassy. Her Father was a first cousin of Salvador Allende , president of Chile from 1970 to 1973; THUS the former head of state is re first cousin once removed . [7] [8] [9] Many sources cite Allende as being Salvador Allende’s niece (Without Specifying therein the relationship is dat Tomas and Salvador are cousins); [10] the confusion Stems from Allende herself of or in referring to Salvador as her “” Uncle “( Tio ) in her private life and public interviews. [11] This is Because in Spanish a “first cousin once removed” is translated as “second degree Uncle” ( Tio and segundo Grado ).

In 1945, after Tomás Disappeared, [7] Isabel’s mother Relocated with re three children to Santiago, Chile , where they ‘lived Until 1953. [12] [13] Between 1953 and 1958, Allende’s mother was married to Ramón Huidobro and moved of or in. Huidobro was a Diplomat appointed to Bolivia and Beirut. In Bolivia, Allende attended an American private school; and in Beirut, Lebanon she attended an English private school. The family Returned to Chile in 1958, where Allende was ook briefly home-Schooled. In her youth, she read widely, met name the works of William Shakespeare .

In 1970, Salvador Allende appointed Huidobro as ambassador to Argentina. [13]

While living in Chile, Allende finished re secondary studies and with engineering student Miguel Frías Whom she married in 1962. [13] Reportedly, “Allende married early, JSON an Anglophile family and a child or double life: at home she was the obedient wife and mother of two, in public she became, after a spell translating Barbara Cartland , a moderately well-known TV personality, a dramatist and a journalist on a feminist magazine. ” [7]

From 1959 to 1965, Allende worked with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Santiago, Chile , dan in Brussels , Belgium, and Elsewhere in Europe. For a short time in Chile, she’ll be had a job translating romance novels from English to Spanish. [11] However, she was fired for making Unauthorized changes to the dialogue of the heroines, to make Them sound more intelligent, as well as stop ring the Cinderella ending to allow directive the heroines to find more Independence and do good in the world. [14]

Allende and Frías’s daughter Paula was born in 1963. In 1966, Allende again Returned to Chile and re sun Nicolás was born there dat year.

“The CIA-backed military coup in September 1973 (dat brought` Augusto Pinochet to power) changed everything” for Allende, Because “her name Meant she was caught up in finding safe passage For those on the wanted lists” (helping in Until re mother and stepfather, a Diplomat in Argentina, narrowly escaped assassination). When she herself was added to the list and Began Receiving death threats, she fled to Venezuela , where she stayed for 13 years. [7] [15] In Venezuela she was a columnist for El Nacional , a major national newspaper. In 1978, she Began a temporary separation from Miguel Frías. She lived in Spain for two months, dan Returned to re marriage. [16]

Current life

During a visit to California in 1988, Allende re second husband, attorney Willie Gordon. In 1994, she was Awarded the Gabriela Mistral Order of Merit, the first woman not to receive this honor. Allende Currently lives in San Rafael, California . Most or re family lives near re, with re solar living “with his second wife and re grandchildren just down the hill; re sun and his family live in the house she and re second husband, San Francisco lawyer and novelist William C. Gordon vacated. ” [7] She separated from Gordon in April 2015. [17]

In 2006, she was one of the eight flag bearers at the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. [18] She Presented the talc Tales of Passion at TED 2007. [18] In 2008, Allende RECEIVED the honorary degree Doctor of Humane Letters from San Francisco State University for her “distinguished contributions as a literary artist and humanitarian.” [19] In 2014, Allende RECEIVED the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from Harvard University for re contributions to literature.

Foundation

Allende started the Isabel Allende Foundation on December 9, 1996 in honor or re daughter, Paula Frías Allende , who fell JSON a coma after complications of the disease porphyria led to re hospitalization. [20] Paula was 28 years old-when she mayest in 1992. [21] The foundation is “dedicated to Supporting programs dat promote and preserve the fundamental rights of women and children to be Empowered and protected.” [22] “In 1995, I created the Isabel Allende Foundation to support the empowerment of women and girls worldwide. For over 20 years, I lectured harbor Internationally about women’s rights and the empowerment of women; Latin American and world politics; Chile; writing and the creative process; spirituality; and my own work. ” [ Citation needed ]

Literary career

Beginning in 1967, Allende was on the editorial staff of Paula magazine, and of the children’s magazine Mampato from 1969 to 1974, where she later became the editor. [23] She published two children’s stories, “La Abuela Panchita” ( “Grandmother Panchita”) and “Lauchas y Lauchones,” as well as a collection of articles, Civilice a Su Troglodita . She’ll be worked in Chilean television production for channels 7 (humorous programs) and 13 from 1970 to 1974. [23] As a journalist, she once SOUGHT an interview with Pablo Neruda , a notable Chilean poet. While Neruda Agreed to the interview, he told re dat she had too much imagination to be a journalist and arnt be a novelist Limit download. [11] He’ll be advised to re compile re satirical columns in book form. [24] She did so, and this became re first published book. In 1973, Allende’s play El Embajador played will in Santiago, a few months voordat she was forced to flee the country due to the coup.

During re-time in Venezuela, Allende was a freelance journalist for El Nacional in Caracas from 1976 to 1983 and an administrator of the Marrocco School in Caracas from 1979 to 1983. [23]

In 1981, while in Caracas, Allende RECEIVED a phone call informing re dat re 99-year-old grandfather was near death, and she sat down to write im a letter accumulation to thereby “keep im alive, at least in spirit.” The letter Evolved JSON a book, The House of the Spirits (1982); the intent of this work was to exorcise the ghosts of the Pinochet dictatorship. The book was rejected by numerous Latin American publishers, but finally published in Spain. The book soon ran to morethan two boxes editions in Spanish, and was translated JSON a score of languages. The book was a great success; Allende was Compared to Gabriel García Márquez , as an author in the style known as magical realism . [7] [25]

Allende’s books are Berninahaus for hun vivid storytelling. Hoewel de Allende is of or in Cited as a practitioner or magical realism , re works ook display elements or post-Boom literature, and, as industry leaders, re styles kan niet worden DESCRIBED altogether magical realism. Allende ook holds to a very strict writing routine. [26] She writes on a computer, working Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM “I always start on January 8,” Allende has stated; “a tradition she Began in 1981 with the letter she wrote to re dying grandfather dat mention anything Become The House of the Spirits .” [27]

Allende’s book Paula (1995) is a memoir or re childhood in Santiago, Chile and the years she spent in exile. It is written as an anguished letter to re daughter, who suffers from porphyria-a metabolic disorder therein is rarely fatal. In 1991, an error in Paula’s Medication resulted in severe brain damage, leaving re in a persistent vegetative state . [28] But Allende spent months at Paula’s Bedside voordat learning dat a hospital goes wrong had caused irreversible brain damage. Allende had Paula moved to a hospital in California where she mayest on December 6, 1992. The book, as much a celebration of Allende’s turbulent life as a Chronicle of Paula’s death, was a bestseller in the United States, Latin America and Europe.

Allende’s novels port leg translated JSON morethan 30 languages and sold goods morethan 56 million copies. [29] [30] There are three movies based on novels re Currently in production – Aphrodite , Eva Luna and Gift for a Sweetheart . [22] Her 2008 book, The Sum of Our Days , is a memoir. It focuses on re recent life with re family, welke of includes re grown sun, Nicolas; second husband, William Gordon; and verschillende grandchildren. [29] A novel set in New Orleans, Island Beneath the Sea , was published in 2010. In 2011 cameramen El cuaderno Maya ( Maya’s Notebook ), in welke the setting alternates tussen Berkeley, California , and Chiloé in Chile.

Reception

Allende has won numerous awards in Chile and around the world (see below), and recently was called a “literary legend” by Latino Leaders Magazine , welke, ITT 2007 article named Allende the third Most Influential Latino leader in the world. [22]

On Despite commercial success, re literature has drawn some negative criticism. In her novel Yo-Yo Boing , Giannina Braschi DECLARED that ‘Isabel Allende is killing García Márquez a little more lycra day the co-way Michael Jackson’s sisters are killing Michael Jackson. ” [31] In an article published in Entre paréntesis , Roberto Bolaño called Allende’s literature anemic, Comparing it to “a person on his deathbed,” and later called her “a writing machine, not a writer.” [32] [33] Literary critic Harold Bloom adds his opinion dat Allende only “REFLECTS a determinate period, and therein afterwards everybody will harbor forgotten her”. [33] [34] Novelist Gonzalo Contreras says that ‘she commits a grave error, to confuse commercial success with literary quality. ” [35]

Allende zegt to El Clarin dat she onderkent dat she hasnt always RECEIVED good reviews in Chile, stating therein Chilean intellectuals “detest” re. However, she Disagrees with synthesis assessments, and has leg quoted saying:

The fact people think dat als you sell a lot of books you are not a serious writer is a great insult to the Readership. I get a little angry-when people try to say zoals a thing. There was a review of my last book in one American paper to a professor or Latin American studies and have attacked me Personally for the sole reason dat I sold a lot of books. That is unforgivable. [36]

Amongst re more positive reviews, it has leg zegt [ to Whom? ] “Allende’s impact on Latin American and world literature can not save be overestimated.” [22] The Los Angeles Times has called Allende “a genius,” [22] and she has RECEIVED many international awards, zoals the prestigious Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize , [22] granted to writers “who harbor Contributed to the beauty of the world. ” [22]

Awards

  • Novel of the Year (Chile, 1983)
  • Panorama Literario (Chile, 1983)
  • Author of the Year (Germany, 1984)
  • Book of the Year (Germany, 1984)
  • Grand Prix d’Evasion (France, 1984)
  • Grand Prix de la Radio Télévision Belge (Point de Mire, 1985)
  • Best Novel (Mexico, 1985)
  • Colima Literary Prize (Mexico, 1986)
  • Quality Paperback Book Club New Voice (United States, 1986 nominee)
  • Author of the Year (Germany, 1986)
  • XV Premio Internazionale I Migliori dell’anno (Italy, 1987)
  • Premio a la Mejor MULHERES Novela Extranjera (Portugal, 1987)
  • Los Angeles Times Book Prize nominee (United States, 1987)
  • Library Journal’s Best Book (United States, 1988)
  • Before Columbus Foundation Award (United States, 1989)
  • Arrange all Merito Teacher y Cultural Gabriela Mistral (Chile, 1990)
  • XLI Bancarella Literary Prize (Italy, 1993)
  • Independent Foreign Fiction Award (England, June-July 1993)
  • Brandeis University Major Book Collection Award (United States, 1993)
  • Feminist of the Year Award, The Feminist; Majority Foundation (United States, 1994)
  • Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres Distinction (France, 1994)
  • Critics’ Choice (United States, 1996)
  • Books to Remember, American Library Assoc. (United States, 1996)
  • Hispanic Heritage Award in Literature (United States, 1996). [37]
  • Malaparte Amici di Capri (Italy, 1998)
  • Donna Citta di Roma (Italy, 1998)
  • Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize (United States, 1998)
  • Sara Lee Foundation (United States, 1998)
  • Premio Iberoamericano de Letras Jose Donoso , University of Talca (Chile, 2003)
  • Premio Honoris Causa, Università di Trento and “lingue e letteratura modern euroamericane” (Trento, Italy, May 2007)
  • Chilean National Prize for Literature (Chile, 2010)
  • Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction (USA, 2010)
  • Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award (Denmark, 2012) [38] [39]
  • Presidential Medal of Freedom (United States, 2014) [40]

Works

Fiction

  • The House of the Spirits (1982) La casa de los espíritus
  • The Porcelain Fat Lady (1984) La gorda the Porcelana
  • Of Love and Shadows (1985) The amor y Sombra
  • Eva Luna (1987) Eva Luna
  • Two Words (1989) Dos Palabras
  • The Stories of Eva Luna (1989) Cuentos the Eva Luna
  • The Infinite Plan (1991) El plan infinito
  • Daughter of Fortune (1999) Hija de la fortuna
  • Portrait in Sepia (2000) Retrato and sepia
  • City of the Beasts (2002) La ciudad de las bestias
  • Kingdom of the Golden Dragon (2004) El Reino del Dragon the oro
  • Zorro (2005) El Zorro: Comienza la leyenda
  • Forest of the Pygmies (2005) El bosque de los pigmeos
  • Ines of My Soul (2006) Inés del alma mia
  • Island Beneath the Sea (2010) La isla bajo el mar
  • Maya’s Notebook (2011) El Cuaderno the Maya
  • Ripper (2014) El juego the Ripper
  • The Japanese Lover (2015) El amante Japones

Nonfiction

  • Paula (1994) Paula
  • Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses (1998) Afrodita
  • My invented Country: A Memoir (2003) Mi país inventado
  • The Sum of Our Days: A Memoir (2008) La suma de los días

Other contributions

  • “Afterword” Tales of Zorro , edited by Richard Dean Starr , Moonstone Books , 2008
  • Santiago Files , 2011 (Interview)

See also

  • Allende family
  • American literature in Spanish
  • List of TED speakers

Notes

  1. Jump up^ “Isabel Allende:” Big Think Interview with Isabel Allende “June 16, 2010 ” ” . Big Think . Retrieved 24 November 2014 .
  2. Jump up^ Isabel Allende: “¡Escribo bien! Por lo menos admítanme eso”Emol, 17 December 2009
    Vengo a Chile por lo menos tres veces al año, Ms. comunico con Chile todos los días a través the Skype con mi mama, estoy enterada de lo que pasa y cuando me preguntan ‘qué eres’ Digo automáticamente’ chilena. Vivo and América, pero me siento profundamente chilena en la Manera said vivir, the server: soy mandona, metete, dominant, intrusa, hospitalaria, tribal. (Isabel Allende)
  3. Jump up^ Isabel Allende Named to Council of Cervantes Institute. Latin American Herald Tribune. 23 October 2009
  4. Jump up^ “American Academy of Arts and Letters – Current Members” . Artsandletters.org . Retrieved 2012-12-21 .
  5. Jump up^ “Isabel Allende gana el Premio Nacional de literatura titrations Intenso lobby | Culture” . La Tercera. 1990-01-01 . Retrieved 2012-12-21 .
  6. Jump up^ “President Obama Announces the Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients” . The White House . 10 November 2014 . Retrieved 11 November 2014 .
  7. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f Review: The undefeated: A life in writing: of or in Compared to Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende is more interested in counting stories about re own life, re s difficult upbringing, marriage and re daughter’s death . Aida Edemariam. The Guardian (London) – Final Edition. GUARDIAN REVIEW PAGES; Pg. 11. 28 April 2007 Isabel Allende website
  8. Jump up^ Shirley Christian,Santiago Journal; Allende’s Widow meditates Anew on a Day in ’73, The New York Times . Section A; Page 4, Column 3; Foreign Atlas. 5 June 1990
  9. Jump up^ Veronica RossSewing did not cut it for Inés, Guelph Mercury (Ontario, Canada). BOOKS; Pg. C5. 3 March 2007
  10. Jump up^ International: Chilean government rejects state funeral for Pinochet as duizendtallen queue to pay respects: Body to be cremated AMID Fears of attacks on tomb: Capital quiet after victory parade turns into a riot. Jonathan Franklin, Santiago. The Guardian (London). GUARDIAN INTERNATIONAL PAGES; Pg. 14. 12 December 2006
  11. ^ Jump up to:a b c Isabel Allende: A Critical Companion. Karen Castellucci Cox; Greenwood Press, 2003. 184 pgs. p. 2-4.
  12. Jump up^ Mirta Ojito, A Writer’s Heartbeats Answer Two Calls. 28 July 2003 The New York Times The article notes dat Allende has leg Told dat re Father left Them and therein due to Chile’s anti-divorce laws, it was impossible for Allende’s mother to divorce Tomas. Her mother, 83-when the article was published, and re stepfather, 87 at the time, port lived together for 57 years, but they ‘are still not honored in Chile as married.
  13. ^ Jump up to:a b c Isabel Allende website
  14. Jump up^ Alexandra Alter,Isabel Allende on Superstition and Memory. The Wall Street Journal, p. W4, 23 April 2010. “… she changed of or in the dialogue and endings to make the heroines seem smarter.”
  15. Jump up^ A Writer’s Heartbeats Answer Two Calls. The New York Times.28 July 2003The New York Times article notes dat she left Chile in 1975.
  16. Jump up^ Isabel Allende website
  17. Jump up^ Walker, Tim (15 November 2015). “Isabel Allende, The Japanese Lover: Fiction comes from the Womb, not the brain ‘- book review” . The Independent . Retrieved 16 January 2016 .
  18. ^ Jump up to:a b Isabel Allende. “TEDTalks: Isabel Allende Tells Tales of Passion” . Retrieved 24 November 2014 .
  19. Jump up^ San Francisco State University in 2008 COMMENCEMENT Program
  20. Jump up^ “After Paula: An Interview with Isabel Allende” . Retrieved 24 November 2014 .
  21. Jump up^ “Isabel Allende Foundation” . Retrieved 24 November 2014 .
  22. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g The list 101 top leaders of the Latino community in the US; Cover story. Allen, Kerri; Miller, Corina; Socorro, Dalia; Stewart, Graeme. Latino Leaders Pg. 24 (27) Vol. 8 No. 4 ISSN  1529-3998 . 1 June 2007
  23. ^ Jump up to:a b c Life at a Glance. The Guardian (London). Guardian Saturday Pages; Pg. 6. 5 February 2000
  24. Jump up^ Wall Street Journal p. W4, 23 April 2010: “.. Interviewed Pablo Neruda, the poet Told re dat she’d make a better novelist dan a reporter.” I think he saw dat I was a liar. As a journalist, I Could Not Be objective. I mention anything about makeup stories. . . At the time I was hurt Because He zegt I was the worst journalist. “”
  25. Jump up^ Levine, Linda Gould (2002). Isabel Allende . New York: Twane Publishers. pp. 114-133.
  26. Jump up^ LATIN AMERICA’S Scheherazade; Drawing on dreams, Myths, and memories, Chilean novelist Isabel Allende weaves fantastical tales in welke reality and the absurd Intersect. Fernando Gonzalez. The Boston Globe MAGAZINE; Pg. 14. 25 April 1993
  27. Jump up^ Allende, heroin ‘Ines’ are Kindred Spirits. Javier Erik Olvera. Inside Bay Area(California). BAY AREA LIVING; Home and Garden. 25 November 2006.
  28. Jump up^ Hornblower, Margot. “Grief and rebirth.” . time; 7/10/1995, Vol. 146 Issue 2, p65, 1p, . Retrieved 10 October 2012 .
  29. ^ Jump up to:a b This old “House” opened a lot of doors for author Allende; Theater preview. Misha Berson. The Seattle Times ROP ZONE; Ticket; Pg. H44. 1 June 2007
  30. Jump up^ Wall Street Journalp. W4, 23 April 2010
  31. Jump up^ Joanne Leedom-Ackerman
  32. Jump up^ Bolaño, Roberto. Entre paréntesis, page 102:Es decir la literatura de Allende es mala, pero está viva, es anémica, como muchos latinoamericanos, pero está viva. No va a vivir mucho tiempo, como muchos enfermos, pero ahora está viva.
  33. ^ Jump up to:a b Los Exitos y las Críticas Clarin . 9 February 2003
    Isabel Allende es una muy mala escritora y solo un refleja PERIODO determinado. Despues todos’s olvidarán the pilgrimage. ( Harold Bloom )
    Me parece una mala escritora, simple y llanamente, y llamarla escritora es darle cancha. Ni siquiera Creo que sea una Isabel Allende escritora, es una escribidora. ( Roberto Bolaño )
  34. Jump up^ Isabel Allende (Bloom’s Modern Critical Views)ISBN 0-7910-7039-5 ISBN 978-0-7910-7039-0
  35. Jump up^ Isabel Allende critica duramente a escritores chilenos y desata polémica,La Tercera. 9 February 2003
    Ella incurre and un gravísimo error, confundir Exito the Ventas con calidad literaria. (Gonzalo Contreras)
  36. Jump up^ Lawrence Donegan. ” This much I know: Isabel Allende, writer, 65, San Francisco. This article Appeared on p. 10 of the Comment & features section of the Observer on Sunday 13 July 2008. It was published on guardian.co.uk at 00:07 BST on Sunday, 13 July 2008 ” . the Guardian . Retrieved 24 November 2014 .
  37. Jump up^ “Hispanic Heritage Awards for Literature” . Hispanic Heritage Foundation . Retrieved 11 January 2011 .
  38. Jump up^ “Isabel Allende Wins the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award” . Hispanically Speaking News . 28 June 2011 . Retrieved 16 August 2012 .
  39. Jump up^ Trine Fisker (28 June 2011). “Allende får HC Andersen pris” . Nyhederne (in Danish) . Retrieved 21 January 2012 .
  40. Jump up^ “Obama Awards Presidential Medal of Freedom to 18” . San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved 24 November 2014 .