Nikelen Acosta Witter has a degree in History from the Federal University of Santa Maria. She holds a Master's degree in Brazilian History from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul and a PhD in Social History from the Fluminense Federal University. Her master's and doctoral research focused on the History of Health and Healing Practices. She is the author of the book Dizem que foi Feitiço: as práticas de cura no Sul do Brasil (1845-1890) and her doctoral thesis Males e Epidemias: governantes, sofredores e curadores no Sul do Brasil, deals with the cholera pandemics of 1855. She is currently a professor at the Department of History at the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) and is dedicated to investigating issues involving Gender and the History of Women in the Contemporary Era. She is also a fiction writer: author of Territórios Invisíveis (children's novel, finalist for the 2013 Argos Award); Guanabara Real e a Alcova da Morte (winner of the 2017 Le Blanc and AGES Awards); Viajantes do Abismo (Jabuti Prize finalist and 2020 Odisseia Prize winner); Dezessete Mortos (winner of the Açorianos Award 2021) and Guanabara Real e o Covil do Demônio (2022).