Isabel Angelica Allende Llona (Latin American Spanish: [isaˈβel aˈʝende] ⓘ; born 2 August 1942) is a Chilean-American[6][7] writer.

"[8] In 2004, Allende was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters,[9] and in 2010, she received Chile's National Literature Prize.

[2] 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.

Allende was born in Lima, Peru, in 1942, the daughter of Francisca Llona Barros called "Doña Panchita" (the daughter of Agustín Llona Cuevas and Isabel Barros Moreira, of Portuguese descent) and Tomás Allende, who was at the time a second secretary at the Chilean embassy.

[3] Before writing books, Allende worked with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Santiago, then in Brussels, and elsewhere in Europe from 1959 to 1965.

[18] Isabel found herself arranging safe passage for people on the "wanted lists", which she continued to do until her mother and stepfather narrowly escaped assassination.

[22] She published two children's stories, "La Abuela Panchita" and "Lauchas y Lauchones", as well as a collection of articles, Civilice a Su Troglodita.

[22] In 1977, while in Caracas, Allende received a phone call informing her that her 99-year-old grandfather was near death, and she sat down to write him a letter, hoping to thereby "keep him alive, at least in spirit."

[24] She writes on a computer, working Monday to Saturday, 09:00 to 19:00 "I always start on 8 January", Allende stated, "a tradition she began in 1981 with the letter she wrote to her dying grandfather that would become The House of the Spirits.

[26] Allende spent months at Paula's bedside before learning that a hospital mishap had caused the brain damage.

It focuses on her life with her family, which includes her grown son, Nicolás; second husband, William Gordon; and several grandchildren.

[33] Allende told El Clarín that she recognizes she has not always received good reviews in Chile, stating that Chilean intellectuals "detest" her.

"[28] The Los Angeles Times called Allende "a genius",[28] and she has received many international awards, including the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize,[28] granted to writers "who have contributed to the beauty of the world".

[35] 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.

[40] The foundation is "dedicated to supporting programs that promote and preserve the fundamental rights of women and children to be empowered and protected.

[5][41] Allende had finished her secondary studies while living in Chile, when she met engineering student Miguel Frías whom she married in 1962.

Reportedly, "Allende married early, into an Anglophile family and a kind of 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.

[4] Vengo a Chile por lo menos tres veces al año, me comunico con Chile todos los días a través de Skype con mi mamá, estoy enterada de lo que pasa y cuando me preguntan 'qué eres' digo automáticamente 'chilena'.

En ese momento Venezuela era el segundo país más rico del mundo.

Isabel Allende es una muy mala escritora y sólo refleja un período determinado.

Ella incurre en un gravísimo error, confundir éxito de ventas con calidad literaria.

Fysisk rager Isabel Allende ikke særlig højt op i billedet, men gennem mange år har hun haft stor litterær betydning for læsere over hele verden.

Derfor er det en stolt priskomité, der fortæller Fyens Stiftstidende, at den chilenskfødte forfatter har sagt ja til i september næste år at modtage H.C. Andersen Litteraturpris 2012 i Odense.

I oktober 2010 gik prisen, der er på 500.000 kroner, til den skotske fantasy-forfatter, J.K. Rowling - Harry Potters mor.

Physically, Isabel Allende is not very prominent in the picture, but for many years she has had a great literary significance for readers all over the world.

In October 2010, the DKK 500,000 prize went to Scottish fantasy writer JK Rowling - Harry Potter's mother.