Salvador Plascencia was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, in the state of Jalisco. The members of his family were farm workers and sharecroppers, and Plascencia spent many of his early years on his grandparents’ ranch in Las Tortugas. At the ranch, Plascencia heard and absorbed many family stories and myths. He states that his idea for The People of Paper began when he was five years old at Las Tortugas. At that time, he saw a group of nuns walking through mud (“An Interview With Salvador Plascencia.” Nashville Review, 1 April 2010). He uses this image, changing the nuns to monks, in the opening of the novel.

By the time Plascencia was in third grade, the family lived full-time in El Monte, a city about 12 miles from Los Angeles. He uses a fictional version of El Monte as a setting for portions of The People of Paper. After finishing high school, Plascencia earned a bachelor’s degree at Whittier College. He next attended Syracuse University, where he earned an MFA in creative writing under the guidance of short story writer George Saunders. Although he began a PhD program at the University of Southern California, working with another notable short story writer, Aimee Bender, he did not complete the degree.