Isabel Allende, a Chilean author, became internationally famous for her novels set in modern Chile, for her historical fiction, and for her autobiographical writings.
© Tiziana Fabi, AFP/Getty Images

People in the United States observe National Hispanic Heritage Month each year from September 15 to October 15. During this period, many Latin American countries celebrate their independence. These countries include Cuba, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

Isabel Allende is one of the leading novelists and journalists in Chile. Her novels and short stories, which were first published in the 1980′s, have won her international fame and several literary awards.

Allende was a journalist and television reporter in Chile in the 1960′s before joining the staff of the women’s magazine Paula in 1967. In 1970, her cousin and godfather, Salvador Allende Gossens, a socialist politician, was democratically elected president of Chile. In September 1973, Salvador Allende was overthrown and died during a right-wing military coup led by army general Augusto Pinochet Ugarte. The Allende family fled Chile, and Isabel moved to Venezuela, where she worked as a journalist. In 1983, she moved to the United States, where she held various university teaching posts while still pursuing her literary career.

Allende’s first novel, The House of Spirits (1982), is a direct reflection of her experiences in Chile during the time of the Pinochet coup and her later separation from her family. The novel arose out of a letter she wrote during 1981 to her dying grandfather, who had stayed in Chile. The letter recounted all the memories she had that would keep the old man alive for her. The House of Spirits became a best seller, and Allende won great critical acclaim. Her work was compared with that of the eminent Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez.

Latin American writers have composed many classics of modern world literature. They include the novels One Hundred Years of Solitude by the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez, The House of the Spirits by the Chilean writer Isabel Allende, and the short story collection Ficciones by the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges.
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Translated by Gregory Rabassa. English translation © 1970 by Harper & Row. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins); The House of the Spirits (Penguin Random House); Ficciones (Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial)

Allende’s other works, also steeped in Chile’s turbulent history, include two more novels, Of Love and Shadows (1984) and Eva Luna (1989); and the short story collections Tales of Eva Luna (1990) and The Infinite Plan (1992). Daughter of Fortune (2000) is a historical romance about a Chilean-born woman searching for her lover in California during the 1849 gold rush. Portrait in Sepia (2001) is a family chronicle set in Chile and California from 1862 to 1910. It draws on characters from The House of Spirits and Daughter of Fortune.

Allende’s historical novel Zorro (2005) portrays a dashing hero in California during the early 1800′s. Another historical novel, Inés of My Soul (2006), is set during the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire in South America during the 1530′s. Her novel Island Beneath the Sea (2010) portrays a revolt of enslaved people in Haiti. In the novel Maya’s Notebook (2013), a young woman flees to a remote island off the coast of Chile to escape from pursuing assassins and law enforcement agents. Ripper (2014) is a mystery novel that features a child detective. The Japanese Lover (2015) is a love story about a Polish-born woman and her one-time Japanese gardener over a period of 70 years of modern history. In the Midst of Winter (2017) deals with three troubled characters with roots in Latin America whose lives intermingle starting with their unexpected meeting in Brooklyn, New York, in the United States. Long Petal of the Sea (2020) tells a story about refugees who flee to Chile to escape the Spanish civil war during the 1930’s.

Allende wrote Paula (1995) in the form of a letter to her daughter, Paula, who was dying of an inherited blood disease. She also wrote a children’s story, La Gorda de Porcelana (The Porcelain Fat Lady) (1984). For young adults, she wrote the trilogy of novels City of the Beasts (2002), Kingdom of the Golden Dragon (2004), and Forest of the Pygmies (2005). In 1997, Allende completed Afrodita: cuentos, recetas y otros afrodisíacos (translated as Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses), a nonfiction collection of writing about the history of love potions, which also included recipes. Allende wrote a memoir called My Invented Country: A Nostalgic Trip Through Chile (2003), as well as the related memoir The Sum of Our Days (2008). She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the highest civilian honors in the United States, in 2014.

Isabel Allende was born on Aug. 2, 1942, in Lima, Peru, where her father was a diplomat. Following the divorce of her parents, her mother took her back to live in Chile, where she lived from the age of 3 until their exile to Venezuela in 1973.

Frida Kahlo’s painting Self Portrait with Monkeys hangs at an exhibition.
© Dieter Nagl, AFPGetty Images

People in the United States observe National Hispanic Heritage Month each year from September 15 to October 15. During this period, many Latin American countries celebrate their independence. These countries include Cuba, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

Frida Kahlo remains an influential painter and feminist icon. Kahlo was an important Mexican painter known for her harsh, revealing self-portraits. Despite living in the 1900′s, she refused to conform to strict gender stereotypes. She boxed, challenged men, dressed in masculine clothing, and smoked. Kahlo was also known for her fashion, wearing traditional-style, colorful dresses, and adorning her hair with flowers and braided styles. Always known for living honestly, Kahlo was openly bisexual.

At the age of 18, she was severely injured in an accident while riding on a bus in Mexico City. Kahlo lived in constant pain and was crippled for the rest of her life. She underwent about 35 operations, including the amputation of one leg. Unable to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor, Kahlo taught herself to paint. In 1929, she married the famous Mexican artist Diego Rivera. Their stormy relationship involved separations, divorce, and remarriage.

Frida Kahlo was an important Mexican painter known for her self-portraits that reflected her physical and emotional suffering. Many of her other paintings include symbolic images and elements from Mexican history.
© Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Kahlo’s paintings are mostly self-portraits that reflect her physical and emotional suffering. She painted with jarring colors and odd spatial relationships. Many of her pictures include startling symbolic images and elements from Mexican history. She often portrayed herself wearing colorful Mexican Indigenous dress and ornaments. Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907, in Coyoacán, in southwest Mexico City. She died on July 13, 1954.

Diego Rivera was a Mexican artist who was famous for painting murals that portrayed Mexican life and history. Rivera is shown here standing in front of one of his paintings.
© Ed Clark, Time Life Pictures/Getty Images

Diego Rivera became famous for murals that portrayed Mexican life and history. Rivera was a controversial figure because of his radical political beliefs and his attacks on the church and clergy.

Rivera was born on Dec. 8, 1886, in Guanajuato. In the 1920′s, he became involved in the new Mexican mural movement. With such Mexican artists as Jose Clemente Orozco and David Siqueiros, he began to experiment with fresco painting on large walls. Rivera soon developed his own style of large, simplified figures and bold colors. Many of his murals deal symbolically with Mexican society and thought after the country’s 1910 revolution. Some of Rivera’s best murals are in the National Palace in Mexico City and at the National Agricultural School in Chapingo, near Mexico City.

Diego Rivera was a Mexican artist famous for his murals. His Detroit Industry Murals are a series of frescoes consisting of 27 panels portraying industry in Detroit. Together they surround the Rivera Court in the Detroit Institute of Arts. A main panel on the north wall shows laborers working at the Ford Motor Company’s River Rouge plant. The artist painted the murals in 1932 and 1933.
Detail of a mural depicting Detroit Industry (1932-33), fresco by Diego Rivera; Detroit Institute of Arts/Gift of Edsel B. Ford (Bridgeman Images)

Rivera painted several significant works in the United States, which he visited in the early 1930′s and again in 1940. Perhaps his finest surviving United States work is a mural at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Rivera died on Nov. 25, 1957.

Camilla Cabello performs for her ‘Never Be The Same Tour’ live at The Fillmore Detroit on April 25, 2018.
Credit: © Brandon Nagy, Shutterstock

People in the United States observe National Hispanic Heritage Month each year from September 15 to October 15. During this period, many Latin American countries celebrate their independence. These countries include Cuba, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

The latest princess to go from rags to riches in Cinderella (2021) is the Cuban American singer and songwriter Camila Cabello. Cabello creates pop music influenced by her Cuban and Mexican heritage. Cabello became known while she was a part of the all-female pop group Fifth Harmony. She now writes and performs her own songs, often addressing the immigrant experience in the United States.

Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao was born March 3, 1997, in Havana, Cuba. Her mother was a Cuban architect and her father worked a number of jobs, including construction while living in Mexico City, Mexico. Cabello and her mother traveled back and forth between Cuba and Mexico before moving to Miami, Florida. Her father later immigrated to the United States to join them. Cabello was shy growing up. She surprised her parents when she asked to audition for the television reality music competition program “The X Factor” in 2012.

Cabello auditioned in Greensboro, North Carolina for “The X Factor” and was listed as an alternate. She asked for another audition and then made it to the next round, which was a pre-season boot camp (intensive training session). At the boot camp in Miami, producers of the show grouped her with four other contestants: (1) Ally Brooke Hernandez, (2) Dinah Jane Hansen, (3) Lauren Jauregui, and (4) Normani Kordei. Later in the season, they formed Fifth Harmony. The group placed third on the show and landed record deals with its creator, the British record executive Simon Cowell, and Epic Records.

Fifth Harmony released its first EP Better Together in 2013 and its first album Reflection in 2015. EP stands for extended play and is a type of musical recording that includes several songs but is not considered a full-length album. Fifth Harmony’s “All in My Head (Flex),” featuring the American rapper Fetty Wap, was voted the song of the summer at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. Outside the group, Cabello began working with other artists such as the Canadian singer and songwriter Shawn Mendes and the American rapper Machine Gun Kelly. In 2016, Fifth Harmony announced via Twitter that Cabello was no longer in the group.

Cabello’s first single as a solo artist, “Havana,” featuring the American rapper Young Thug, was released in 2017. The single held the number one spot on Billboard magazine’s “US Pop Singles” chart for seven weeks. Cabello headlined for Bruno Mars on his 24k Magic Tour in 2017 and Taylor Swift’s Reputation Stadium tour in 2018. Cabello released her first solo album, Camila, in 2018. It reached number one on the “Billboard 200” chart. She later released the album Romance in 2019.

Cabello won MTV’s video of the year award in 2018 for “Havana” and in 2019 for “Senorita,” with Shawn Mendes. She also won the MTV Europe Music Awards for best song and best video with “Havana.” She received a Grammy nomination in 2019 for best pop solo performance for “Havana” and best pop vocal album for Camila. She received a nomination for best pop duo/group performance for “Senorita.”

Lorena Ochoa, a Mexican golfer, was one of the leading players on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour. Ochoa’s success has made her a national sports hero in Mexico.
© Lisa Blumenfeld, Getty Images

People in the United States observe National Hispanic Heritage Month each year from September 15 to October 15. During this period, Latin American countries celebrate their independence. These countries include Cuba, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

Lorena Ochoa, a Mexican golfer, became one of the leading players on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour (now the KPMG Women’s PGA). Ochoa was named the Player of the Year in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. She was the first person other than Annika Sorenstam of Sweden and Karrie Webb of Australia to win the Player of the Year award since 1996. Ochoa’s success made her a sports hero in Mexico.

During 2006, Ochoa led the LPGA tour with six tournament victories. She also finished second six times. In 2006, 2007, and 2008, Ochoa earned more prize money than any other woman on the tour and also won the Vare Trophy awarded to the golfer with the lowest scoring average. In 2007, Ochoa won the Women’s British Open, becoming the first Mexican-born player to win a major championship on the LPGA tour. She won her second major championship, the Kraft Nabisco (now ANA Inspiration) title, in 2008.

Ochoa was born on Nov. 15, 1981, in Guadalajara, Mexico. She began playing golf at the age of 5. Ochoa was a star player at the University of Arizona in 2001 and 2002. She won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Player of the Year award in both years. Ochoa won the 2003 Nancy Lopez Award, given to the best female amateur golfer from the previous year. Ochoa turned professional in 2002 and was named the Rookie of the Year on the LPGA tour in 2003. In 2004, she became the first Mexican-born player to win a tournament on the LPGA tour. In 2010, Ochoa announced she was retiring from competitive golf. She ended her career with 27 LPGA tournament victories.

September 15, 2017

Today, September 15, marks the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Month (Mes de la Herencia Hispana) in the United States. To celebrate the month, World Book begins by highlighting the life and achievements of writer Juan Felipe Herrera. In 2015, Herrera became the first Chicano to be appointed poet laureate of the United States. A Chicano is a person of Mexican descent who was born in the United States or who identifies with that group. Since the late 1900’s, Herrera has been a leading voice in exploring the Mexican American experience in the United States. In addition to his adult and children’s poetry, Herrera’s work includes video, photography, theater, and performance pieces. Poet Tracy K. White will replace Herrera as poet laureate later this year.

Juan Felipe Herrera was appointed poet laureate of the United States in 2015. Credit: Oregon State University (licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)

Herrera has lived almost his entire life in California, and his writings are strongly influenced by his experiences growing up in the state as a Chicano. He published his first book of poetry, Rebozos of Love, in 1974. Herrera’s other major books include the memoir Mayan Drifter: Chicano Poet in the Lowlands of America (1997), and the poetry collections Border-Crosser with a Lamborghini Dream (1999), Half of the World in Light: New and Selected Poems (2008), Senegal Taxi (2013), and Notes on the Assemblage (2015). CrashBoomLove (1999) is a novel in verse. Herrera has written several children’s books, including the autobiographical The Upside Down Boy (2000) and Portraits of Hispanic American Heroes (2014).

Herrera was born in Fowler, California, on Dec. 27, 1948, the son of migrant farmworkers. In 1972, he received a B.A. degree in social anthropology from the University of California at Los Angeles. He received an M.A. degree in anthropology from Stanford University in 1980 and an M.F.A. degree from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 1990. Herrera was a professor of Chicano and Latin American Studies at California State University, Fresno, from 1990 to 2004. In 2005, he joined the creative writing department at the University of California at Riverside. Herrera was named poet laureate of California in 2012. He retired from teaching in 2015.

Credit: © National Hispanic Heritage Month

National Hispanic Heritage Month recognizes the achievements and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans and celebrates their heritage and culture. September 15 was chosen to begin the month because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Mexico (September 16), Chile (September 18), and Belize (September 21) also celebrate independence days during Hispanic Heritage Month.

The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., hosts a variety of events during National Hispanic Heritage Month. The National Endowment for the Humanities website features numerous online exhibits and collections related to Hispanic Americans and Latino culture and history. For more information, see the official government website.

September 15, 2016

Today, September 15, marks the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Month (Mes de la Herencia Hispana) in the United States. The month recognizes the achievements and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans and celebrates their heritage and culture. September 15 was chosen to begin the month because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Mexico (September 16), Chile (September 18), and Belize (September 21) also celebrate independence days during Hispanic Heritage Month. The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon B. Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover the 30-day period from September 15 to October 15.

This 1984 U.S. postage stamp honors the service of Hispanic Americans in the military. It is one of several U.S. stamps honoring the heritage of Hispanic Americans. Credit: © Shutterstock

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