A look at noteworthy addresses in the Southland : <i> Novelist Isabel Allende, whose works include “The House of Spirits” and “The Infinite Plan,” spoke Wednesday at USC. Her remarks were sponsored by the USC Speakers Bureau.</i>

On the Writer as Outsider “Authors are often asked by readers and journalists, why and how do they write? That’s a kind of joke among writers because the question has no straight answer. . . . The truth is that most writers don’t have the slightest idea why they do it.

“Writers seldom fit in. . . . writers are some sort of marginals who take nothing for granted, don’t feel comfortable in this world and don’t understand things the way other people do. . . . All my books have been written from that feeling of being a stranger. . . . I started writing because I needed to invent a world of my own.

”. . . The feeling of being a stranger in my woman’s body for so many years made me aware of the differences and the similarities of gender. It forced me to question everything--tradition, culture, family, sex, law, religion, myths, rules, even biology and science. All that which is traditionally manipulated by men.

” . . . As a woman, I was trained to ignore my ambition, control my anger, repress my imagination and deny my sexuality. I tried, but I never could . . . the result was shame and guilt. It took a political cataclysm, years of poverty and depression, failure and pain to overcome my low self-esteem and decide that maybe I could become a writer after all.”

On Writing as a Process of Life “Storytelling makes my world go round. Books don’t happen in the mind. They grow in the womb. I don’t choose a theme for a novel, the story chooses me.”

“The events of my life and the people I have known along the way are my only source of inspiration. . . . That is why I want to live with passion, courage and good humor, open to the wonders and the adventures of life even when they bring us pain. . . . If you want a safe life, you can’t be a writer.

“My friends, let’s live our lives the way we want them to be, like a novel, with a feeling that each one of us is the protagonist of a long saga that we are all writing together.”

Looking Ahead * Thursday: Actor/playwright Anna Deavere Smith will speak at Pomona College, Seaver Theatre Main Stage, 8 p.m., sponsored by the Public Events Committee and Department of Theatre and Dance, (909) 621-8186.

Announcements concerning prominent speakers in Los Angeles should be sent to Speaking Up, c/o Times researcher Nona Yates, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053