Magda Cârneci is a poet, essayist, and art historian born in Romania.
She took a Ph.D. in art history at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris (1997) and received several international grants in literature and art history (Fulbrigt, Soros, Getty, European Community).
In the 2000s, after working as a visiting lecturer at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO) in Paris, she was the director of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Paris (2007 – 2010).
At present, she is visiting professor at the National University of Arts in Bucharest, editor-in-chief of ARTA magazine for visual arts, and president of PEN Club Romania.
She started her literary career in the România literară magazine, under the pen name Magdalena Ghica, which she used until 1989.