Valencia was born at Puerto Merizalde near
Buenaventura in Colombia in 1963. She grew up in an agricultural area, and her parents instilled in her their love of the Spanish language. She trained and worked in education. She has both a graduate and masters qualification. She has completed post graduate work at
Saint Thomas Aquinas University in
Bogotá and she has computer science and education management qualifications from
Universidad Santiago de Cali. Publication of her first volume of poems was underwritten by a museum in
Roldanillo in 1991. Since then she has published several other books of poetry in Spanish. She is married and has a daughter. ==References==