Born in Peru and raised in Chile, Isabel Allende is the author of nine novels, including Inès of My Soul, Daughter of Fortune, and Portrait in Sepia, all of which were New York Times bestsellers. She has also written a collection of stories, four memoirs, and a trilogy of children's novels. Her books have been translated into more than twenty-seven languages and have become bestsellers across four continents. In 2004 she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Isabel Allende lives in California.

Gioconda Belli's poetry and fiction have been published all over the world. Her first novel, The Inhabited Woman, was an international bestseller; her collection of poems, Linea de Fuego, won the esteemed Casa de las Americas Prize in 1978. She is the author of the award-winning The Country Under My Skin and The Scroll of Seduction. Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand won the prestigious 2008 Biblioteca Breve Prize. She lives in Santa Monica, California, and Managua, Nicaragua.