The novelist Isabel Allende does not like to discuss her legacy. “I don’t think women think in terms of legacy very much. People and things are forgotten. I am just very happy to have so many readers right now,” the writer told the Associated Press by telephone. Known for writing “The House of the Spirits,” Allende was born in Peru. She is the first Spanish language writer to receive the honorary National Book Award from the National Book Foundation based in New York City. The foundation announced Thursday that Allende will be given the medal for her “contribution to American letters.” In past years, the prize has gone to American writers such as Toni Morrison, who also received the Nobel Prize for Literature, and Pulitzer Prize winner Arthur Miller. Allende has lived in the United States since the 1980s. In a statement, Lisa Lucas, the book foundation’s director, said Allende’s work never makes “the experiences of her characters” unimportant.
