[1][5] Her first short story was published in the popular magazine Kultura i Życie (Culture and Life) in 1958 and her first novel, Klin (The Wedge), in 1964.

She loved horse races and gambling: both hobbies are mentioned extensively in her books.

[6] She was also a connoisseur of amber,[5][6] a passion which forms the basis for her 1998 novel Złota mucha (The Golden Fly).

Most frequently, the protagonist is a woman called Joanna that inherits many characteristics from Chmielewska herself.

[9] As of September 2008, there are no published English language translations of Chmielewska's work, and so the exact translation of the Polish titles into English can vary from source to source.