Dorota Terakowska

[1][2] She began to work early and also quickly started taking part in the cultural life of Kraków, in May 1956 she joined the youth organisational committee at the Piwnica pod Baranami, where she bartended and also sang two songs in shows.

[1] In 1969, after working for a couple years as a sociologist, she started writing for the Gazeta Krakowska daily until the period of martial law in Poland.

[1] For years, Terakowska wrote articles, reviews, reportage and interviews for Przekrój, Zdanie and Zeszyty Prasoznawcze.

[3] Although the first novel she wrote was Babci Brygidy szalona podróż po Krakowie aimed at young adults, it was the 1983 collection of her journalistic text, Próba generalna, which became her first published book.

[1] Around that time, Terakowska started to focus almost fully on her literary work, writing for younger and older audiences alike.

[4] Suffering, death and child's loneliness were frequent motifs in her writing;[4] she wrote about weighty topics with empathy and understanding.

[1] She also received three literary awards from the Polish section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), for Córka czarownic (1992), Samotność bogów (1998) and Tam gdzie spadają Anioły (1999).

[1] Terakowska's popularity did not wane after her death; in the decade which followed, there were almost 400 thousand copies of her books sold in Poland.