The Cinema Room at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso held the launching of the book titled “Muses from Arica to Punta Arenas: Interviews to forty inspiring chilean women”, written by the journalists Fabiana Rodríguez-Pastene and Sara Sorza, a text that was developed together with Ediciones PUCV.
The work collects the stories of women leaders from different regions of the country, from various fields, interviewed within the context of the Región F program, an initiative developed more than 10 years ago with the support of the newspaper La Estrella de Valparaíso, Soy Chile.cl and the Adolfo Ibáñez university.
Fabiana Rodríguez-Pastene is a journalist, with a master’s and doctoral degree in History. She did her undergraduate and graduate work at the PUCV, where she also worked for many years in the area of Institutional Communications. Sara Sorza is also a journalist with a master’s degree in Edition and Media, with a Trajectory in the Chilean National Television network. Both share their closeness to Journalism and university teaching in different Institutions.
The book was prologued by the National Journalism Award recipient, Patricia Stambuk, who is a leading interviewer and writer. The publication is organized in seven chapters that addresses various topics such as heritage, survival, leadership, education and service vocation.
As the authors explain, these are stories of tenacious women who have overcome gender stereotypes and serve as role models for new and current generations.
“These are women who don't live in the developed world or grace magazine covers. You might see them standing in line at the bank, teaching a class, or taking their children to school somewhere in Chile. We wanted people to get to know them, to realize that there is inspiration beyond social media and streaming series characters. That muses are just around the corner, perhaps even on our own block,” the authors say.
Among the interviews we can highlight the testimonies of leaders such as Alejandra Mustakis, Karen Doggenweiler, Belén Soto, Carolina Leonardini, Sofía Calvo, Micheline Silva, Macarena Cabrillana and Eliana Vidal, among many others, whose accounts tell a story of resilience processes and learning that emerged from adverse contexts.
“The stories are very diverse and were directed through a selection of chapters. Some talk about survivors, like the case of Carolina Leonardini, a woman that lives with cancer and channels her experience through an entrepreneurship that supports people that go through chemotherapy and breast reconstruction processes; or Macarena Cabrillana, world-class paralympic tennis player, who survived a suicide attempt; or Zhara Habibi, who escaped from Afghanistan”, explained Fabiana Rodríguez.
For her part, Sara Sorza said: “We hope the book is a source of inspiration for girls and teenagers. We seek to show that there are women that lead initiatives and can be found in many places. The book can also inspire adult women”.
The authors add that, although stories are diverse, in many cases there is a common leitmotiv: survival and the ability to extract lessons in the face of adversity. “In the chapter called Warriors without shield we present women that, through their activism or foundations, seek to transform their destiny and that of others. For example, Ximena Abogabir who, from her foundation, advocates for senior citizens job inclusion; Evangely Zamorano, that after the death of her daughter created a foundation to prevent cyberbullying; or Natacha Valenzuela, who formed an organization so all children can have access to a storybook”, Sara complemented.
In Chapter five, Vocation for Serving, five educators were interviewed, in the context of the commemoration of the 80 years of Gabriela Mistral’s Literature Nobel Prize, which was celebrated in 2025. The testimonies of Constanza Daniels, Magdalena Contreras, Nelly León, Gladys Videla and María Tapia highlight the importance of education as a tool to change someone’s destiny.
“The idea behind this book is that, in the long term, each story can be transformed into a book, so that girls and boys believe they can fulfill their dreams and understand that they can do whatever they set their minds to without having to be born in a developed world to shine,” added Rodríguez-Pastene
Support from Ediciones PUCV
The book “Muses from Arica to Punta Arenas” had the support of the 2024 Book and Reading Promotion Fund and was presented with the support of PUCV Editions, in charge of the design, layout and organization of the book launch at the university, which had more than 150 people in attendance.
Finally, the director of PUCV Editions, David Letelier, highlighted that “this book brings together interviews with Chilean women from different regions, backgrounds, and ages who, through their professions, leadership, and resistance, have challenged stereotypes, overcome obstacles, and contributed to the country in fields as diverse as science, sports, culture, politics, education, the arts, and activism. Each interview is an intimate and profound portrait that reveals individual achievements and shared projects that transcend generations and territories.”
By Juan Paulo Roldán
Strategic Communication Department
