She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in humanities, graduating cum laude with a major in comparative literature, a minor in English, and a cognate in philosophy from the University of the Philippines Baguio in 1980.

In the Spring Term 2018, Igloria was the inaugural Glasgow Visiting Writer in Residence at Washington & Lee University.

Her work is included in the very first electronic anthology of Women's Poetry Fire On Her Tongue (Two Sylvias Press, 2011), Language for a New Century, ed.

Tina Chang, Ravi Shankar, and Nathalie Handal (W.W. Norton, 2008), and Letters to the World: Poems from the Wom-po Listserv], ed.

She is highly decorated for her expanse of work: Luisa is an eleven-time (five First Prizes, plus six lesser prizes) recipient of the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature in three genres (poetry, nonfiction, and short fiction); the Palanca award is the Philippines' highest literary distinction.