Manuela Gretkowska

In 1988, she left Poland to live in Paris, where she studied anthropology at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales.

Gretkowska's literary debut was the novel We Are Immigrants Here (My zdies' emigranty) (1991), in which she described the experiences of the young generation leaving Poland.

Gretkowska's next three books described the life of a modern artistic-intellectual bohemian living in France: Paris Tarot (1993), Metaphysical Cabaret (1994), and Textbook for people.

Manuela Gretkowski's prose eschewed grandiose language, more similar to the ease and austerity of the essay.

Three years later, Gretkowska wrote a column for the monthly magazine Success that was highly critical of the Kaczyński brothers (twins who at the time held the positions of Poland's President and Prime Minister).