She is most known by her short story Dead Stars (1925) in which the two main characters are displayed as allegories to American imperialism in order to portray the slow decay of Philippine heritage.

[3][4] She and her husband's establishment of educational magazines, schools, and her contributions to the development of creative short story writing courses within the Philippines is believed to have inspired generations of Filipino writers.

[citation needed] Paz Marquez-Benitez was born on March 3, 1894, in then municipality Lucena, Tayabas (now Quezon), Philippines.

[3] She attended the Tayabas Highschool now, Quezon National High School where she was praised by her principal for her academic achievements in English.

[3] American culture continued to envelop around her in 1912, at the age of eighteen, when she was introduced to, and participated in, a beauty contest where she was chosen as the Manila Carnival Queen of 1912 [5] and thus graced the cover of the Renacimiento Filipino.

[3] Throughout her teaching career, Márquez-Benítez had become known as an influential figure to many prominent Filipino writers in the English language, such as Francisco Arcellena, Bienvenido N. Santo, Paz Latorena, Loreto Paras Sulit, Edna Zapanta Manlapaz, and Arturo B. Rotor, all of whom were taught by Márquez-Benítez at the University of the Philippines.

Also in the same year, she and six other prominent members of Manila's social elites, namely, Clara Aragon, Concepcion Aragon, Francisca Tirona Benitez, Carolina Ocampo Palma, Mercedes Rivera, and her older sister, Socorro Marquez Zaballero founded the Philippine Women's College now Philippine Women's University.

[3] She began her educational career at the age of six where she attended in Lucena West 1 Elementary School, first learned English.