[1] She has received numerous national and international awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, and is one of Argentina's premier living writers.

[5] Born Ana María Schoua (the original spelling for her surname) in Buenos Aires in 1951,[6] Shua became interested in writing at a young age, inspired by books such as Black Beauty.

[21] In explaining her affection for the genre, Shua has said:"I really like to feel that I am inside a text in which every word is essential, in which rhythm and sound are as important as meaning and cannot be separated.

"[22]She has also described the super-short format as requiring authors "to work with the knowledge of the reader, like in martial arts, where you take advantage of the force of your opponent.

[13] Shua has worked as a journalist, a publicist, and a screenwriter, adapting some of her writings, including Los amores de Laurita, directed by Antonio Ottone.

[25] Shua has also written books for children[9] and works of humor and folklore, including El pueblo de los tontos, the first Spanish-language telling of the traditional Jewish Chełm stories.

[32] Shua's parents were Jewish, of Polish and Lebanese origin,[13] although her father was a militant atheist and she was raised largely without religion.