Chile. She was a prominent academic and writer whose work and pursuits were pioneering in the reflection on gender and feminism. Her novel La brecha is considered the first of its kind, just as Maldita yo entre las mujeres, about La Quintrala, is a fundamental piece among historical novels. She had a distinguished journalistic career: she founded and directed the magazine Adán in Chile and the feminist newspaper Breakthrough in Houston, USA. She also collaborated with the magazine Mensaje, in addition to being in charge of the literary section of the newspaper El Sol de México. She taught for a long time, serving as a professor of Latin American Language and Literature at Peking University, China. Following her master's degree at the University of Houston, she continued her teaching activity at various universities and was honored as Professor Emeritus by Rice University. Despite her many years abroad, she never ceased to maintain ties with Chile and actively participated in congresses and workshops related to literature and feminism.
Other novels by Mercedes Valdivieso were: La tierra que les di and Las noches y un día, in addition to other unpublished works.