Europe News
Isabel Allende wins Denmark's H C Andersen literature prize
Jun 28, 2011, 15:28 GMT
Copenhagen - Chilean writer Isabel Allende is the next recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award, officials in the Danish town of Odense said Tuesday.
Allende, 68, is author of The House of the Spirits. She is expected to visit the town in September 2012 to receive her prize.
'She ranks Andersen as one of her favourite fairy tale writers,' said Jens Olsen, a member of the jury, in comments to the local newspaper Fyens Stiftstidende.
Odense is the hometown of Hans Christian Andersen, who wrote some of history's most memorable children's tales - The Ugly Duckling, The Little Mermaid and The Emperor's New Clothes - between 1805 and 1875.
The award is given to writers whose work most closely resemble Andersen's writing. It is worth about 90,000 dollars. It was most recently awarded to JK Rowling, the British creator of the fictional character Harry Potter.
