When Isabel Allende Went to Interview Pablo Neruda

Many years ago, before she was a globally recognized novelist, Isabel Allende was working as a journalist for a feminist magazine in Chile. One day, poet Pablo Neruda —at that time sick and aging— invited her to his home in Isla Negra. She thought she was invited for an interview, but when it came time to start the interview, she got a lecture from Neruda about how she was a terrible journalist, and that she should try writing literature instead.