Desvignes taught comparative literature and theatre history at both the Université de Saint-Etienne and the Université de Lyon, before devoting her career to writing in the early 1980s.

[3] Nœuds d'argile was the first book in the Les Mains nues trilogy.

[1] In 1973, Desvignes spent six months as a visiting professor in Western Canada.

As of 2010, Desvignes had written ten novels, eight plays, three volumes of poetry, and more than 100 short stories.

[2] Her son, Antoine Volodine (born Jean Desvignes) is also a writer.