Antonio Skarmeta is a Chilean writer whose novel ARDIENTE PACIENCIA inspired the 1994 Academy Award–winning movie, Il Postino (The Postman). The novel’s English translation bears the same title. His fiction has received dozens of awards and has been translated into nearly 30 languages. In 2011, his novel LOS DIAS DEL ARCOIRIS (THE DAYS OF THE RAINBOW) won the prestigious Premio iberoamericano Planeta-Casa de América de Narrativa. His play "El Plebiscito," based on the same true incident as this novel, was the basis for the Oscar-nominated film No.