Laura Esquivel was born in Mexico in 1950. Since, she's managed to capture the imaginations of people on a global scale, all with the power of her pen, a passion that began in the '70s, after discovering a love for writing stories while she worked as a teacher for kids. Her taste for writing and creating fictional worlds began to develop as she began writing more and more for her students. Without realizing it, Laura was paving the road for her famous book ,"Like Water for Chocolate."
© Getty ImagesLaura is the youngest of three kids, and was born in raised in Mexico. From a young age, she loved to write and develop deep and intriguing stories, which led her to study Theater at the Center of Dramatic Arts A.C. (CADAC), focusing on theater for children. She also acquired a degree in preschool education.
During the '70s, she began to write kids' programs on television and founded the Center of Permanent Invention in 1983, where she served as the organization's director. These experiences inspired her to continue to develop her skills as a writer, studying scriptwriting with the Mexican actor and director Alfonso Arau. The two married in 1975 and began a long and fruitful partnership that concluded in 1995.
"The story of my great aunt was sad because she wasn't allowed to get married so she could take care of my great grandmother. I couldn't understand that."
© Cover/Getty ImagesTogether, they wrote the script for "Chido Guan, El Tacos de Oro," starring Fernando Arau, Alfonso's son. The movie was a success, earning nominations for the Ariel Awards and opening many doors for Laura, who continued to try out different mediums for her writing.
It was then that Laura began to write her masterpiece, "Like Water for Chocolate," published in 1989. The story follows the characters of Tita, Mama Elena, Rosaura, Gertrudis, Pedro Muzquiz, and more, with the book becoming a film and later an HBO TV show championed by none other than Salma Hayek.
The book has been translated into over 30 languages, with the film being the recipient of 10 Ariel Awards, and plenty of theater adaptations in Spain and the US. Laura has written more stories since, including "La Ley del Amor," "Tan Veloz Como el Deseo," "Malinche," "El Diario de Tita," and more.
"My way of changing the destiny of that Tita of the past was to modify her story on paper."
© AFP via Getty ImagesLaura's writing has long demonstrated a clear interest in Mexican politics and culture, something that informed the decisions she made later in her life. In 2008, she started a career in Mexican politics, becoming the general director at the town hall in Coyoacán, in Mexico City. In 2015, she was selected as a federal deputy for the Movement of National Regeneration, which represents science, technology, culture, cinematography, the environment, and its natural resources.
