Emma Sepulveda was born in Argentina and raised in Chile. She attended the University of Chile in Santiago until the coup d'etat of 1973. She immigrated to the USA in 1974 and completed her B.A., M.A. at the University of Nevada Reno and eventually earned a Ph. D. from the University of California at Davis.

She is the author or co-author of 17 books, including works of poetry, non-fiction, photography, literary criticism, and textbooks for the teaching of Spanish.

Emma worked for many years with the Chilean women's movement (Arpilleristas) and for her work in defense of human rights she was awarded the Thorton Peace Prize in 1993. She worked as a consultant on the Peabody Award winning documentary "Threads of Hope" which detailed the lives of the Chilean Arpilleristas.

For her work on behalf of Latinos in the USA she received the Latina Women of the Year Award in Literature from the GEMS international television network in 1997in Miami. She was featured on the same network as one of the "Mujeres Protagonistas/Women Protagonists" of the Hispanic World. In 1998, she was selected as one of the examples of Latino life in the USA in the "Americanos" project put together by actor Edward James Olmos. In 2000, she received the Silver Pen Award, given to distinguished writers In Nevada.

Emma has been a photographer for more than 25 years. Her photographs have been published in books, magazines, journals and newspapers in the USA and abroad, including Chile, England, Canada and Mexico. In 1984 she won the first prize in photography ($50,000) in the national competition sponsored by Polaroid and Porsche Germany. Her work has been exhibited in several galleries across the country and abroad.

Emma is also an educator, and a community volunteer. She has been a board member of more than 25 organizations, among them Public Television, United Way, Girls Scouts, Habitat for Humanity, Public Radio, Nevada Museum of Art, and The National Conference for Christians & Jews. She was also a member of the U.S. Senate Hispanic Task Force.

In 1995 she founded a non profit entity in Northen Nevada, Latinos for Political Education, an organization dedicated to the empowerment of the Latino community through voter registration, get out the vote campaigns and political education. In 1994 Emma Sepúlveda was the first Latina to run for the State Senate in Nevada. For her work with the Latino community in Nevada she received the Friends of Nevada Families Award from the AFL-CIO.

She was one of the riders in the Immigrants Workers Freedom Ride of 2003.

In 2004 she became a Foundation Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. She was the first Latina/o to receive that distinction.

At the present time Emma is a Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, continues to write and is a columnist for the Reno Gazette Journal and Ahora Newspaper on Latino issues.