Manuel Rojas was born on January 8, 1896, in Buenos Aires, Argentina; he died on March 11, 1973, in his adopted homeland, Chile. His family moved to Chile in 1899 and from then until 1922 they wandered back and forth between Chile and Argentina, working a variety of jobs to earn a meager living. He probably settled permanently in Chile in 1924. In 1927, he published his first collection of short stories, Hombres del Sur, which included the story "El vaso de leche" ("The Glass of Milk" ).

It was about this time that Rojas became associated with the political group called the Anarchists, who opposed the oppressive Chilean government. He wrote articles for the Anarchist newspapers, La Batalla (in Chile) and La Protesta (in Buenos Aires, Argentina). The Popular Front political party took control of the government in 1936. In 1938 Rojas published a collection of essays, De la poesía a la revolució...