Valenzuela is one of the best-known and important contemporary Argentinean writers. Because of the military dictatorship, which impeded both her journalistic and literary work, she went into exile in the United States. She stayed there for ten years and was writer-in-residence at the Center for InterAmerican Relations and at New York and Columbia universities, where she also gave writing workshops and seminars. In 1989 she returned for good to Buenos Aires, where she continues to live. Luisa Valenzuela is the author of more than 30 books, including novels, short stories, micro-fiction and essays, with titles such as La travesía, El gato eficaz, Los heréticos and Hay que sonreír, which have been translated and published in many different countries.