Carla Guelfenbein

Carla Guelfenbein Dobry (born November 30, 1959) is a Chilean writer, winner of the Alfaguara Novel Prize in 2015 for her book Contigo en la distancia. Guelfenbein has published eight novels; The most recent one is called La naturaleza del deseo and it was published in 2022.

Early life and education Carla Guelfenbein Dobry was born in Santiago, Chile, in 1959. She is of Russian-Jewish origin. She was exiled with her parents to England in 1976 as a result of the military coup of September 11, 1973 which meant the fall of the Popular Unity government. Her house had been raided and her mother, Eliana Dobry, professor of philosophy at the University of Chile and socialist militant, was detained by Pinochet's agents; her whereabouts were unknown for three weeks.

She had anorexia at the age of 17 and at the age of 18, her mother died of cancer.

She studied biology at University of Essex (specialty: population genetics) in United Kingdom and design at St Martin's School of Art, today Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London.

The author has always presented characters that are part of that struggle that women have had in the society.

She attended to the literary workshops of Pía Barros and Gonzalo Contreras. She affirms that she began to write and read in her childhood.

Verse translation|lang=|italicsoff=|rtl1=|Siempre escribí. Siempre para mí la escritura fue un lugar al que acudía constantemente, un refugio. Desde los nueve años más o menos empecé a escribir y a leer mucho también. Eso es algo que se lo debo a mi madre, ella es una profesora de Filosofía de la universidad y de ella aprendí a leer, ella guiaba mis lecturas, yo creo que eso me hizo una gran lectora|I always wrote. Always for me, writing was a place I went to constantly, a refuge. From the age of nine more or less I started writing and reading a lot too. That is something I owe to my mother, she is a Philosophy professor at the university and from her I learned to read, she guided my readings, I think that made me a great reader|attr1=Carla Guelfenbein |attr2=Carla Guelfenbein

She is one of the most popular Chilean writers and her books have repeatedly appeared on the best-seller lists in Chile and have been translated into several languages; for example, The woman of my life has been published in 14 languages, with a good reception from both readers and critics alike.

Personal life Carla Guelfenbein returned to Chile in 1987, and currently resides in Santiago.

She has two children Micaela Altamirano Guelfenbein (1994) and Carlos Sebastián Altamirano Guelfenbein (1997) of her marriage with Juan Carlos Altamirano Celis, a former Programming Manager of TVN 2005 and son of the socialist leader Carlos Altamirano Orrego. However, she is currently separated.

Novels The reverse of the soul, novel, Alfaguara, Santiago, 2002 The woman of my life, novel, Alfaguara, Santiago, 2005 The rest is silence, novel, Planeta, Santiago, 2008 Nadar desnudas, novela, Alfaguara, Santiago, 2012 (The International Literary Quarterly had advanced chapter 14 in its Nº12, October 2010) Contigo en la distancia, novel, Alfaguara, Santiago, 2015 Take me to heaven, novel, Cloud of Ink, Santiago, 2018 The Station of Women, novel, Alfaguara, Santiago, 2019

Awards Alfaguara Novel Prize 2015 for Contigo en la Distancia.