Author
Honors Convocation
"Stories and Dreams"
Tuesday, May 23, 2000
Author of five international best-sellers, including Of Love and Shadows, Eva Luna, and The Infinite Plan, Isabel Allende is one of Latin America's most celebrated writers. Born in 1942 in Lima, Peru, and raised in Chile, Allende is the niece and goddaughter of Salvador Allende, who served as Chile's president until a bloody coup in 1973 which took his life. Forced to flee her homeland, Allende resettled in Venezuela. In 1981, when she learned that her grandfather lay dying in Chile, she began a long letter to him, which she never sent. This letter slowly grew to become The House of Spirits, one of Allende's most acclaimed novels. Her most recent work, Daughter of Fortune, a detailed historical novel set during the California gold rush, has spent 11 weeks on The New York Times best-sellers list since its release last fall.
Read the Press Release: LU Awards Honorary Degree to International Best-Selling Author Isabel Allende