Różewicz was in the first generation of Polish writers born after Poland regained its independence in 1918, following the century of foreign partitions.

Some of Różewicz's best known plays, other than The Card Index, include: The Interrupted Act (Akt przerywany, 1970), Birth Certificate (Świadectwo urodzenia, screenplay to an award-winning film by the same title, 1961), Left Home (Wyszedł z domu, 1965), and The White Wedding (Białe małżeństwo, 1975).

In 1965, Karen Cross and Johan Holm directed a series of Różewicz's three short plays, collectively titled The Witnesses.

A Village Voice review of the production reads: The first play, the most abstract, is a string of metaphors meant... to convey a view of man's condition...

By means of a forced calm, a dedicated attention to trivia, and a patronizing attitude toward other people, they organize the day's activity...

The children quite coldly mutilate and murder the animal and the husband blandly but not indifferently reports the event to his wife who isn't listening.

The piece was partially funded by the New York State Council on the Arts and was performed at the College of White Plains, Hudson River Museum, and Community Action Program in Mamaroneck in addition to La MaMa's theatre in the East Village, Manhattan.

In 2000, Różewicz received Poland's top literary prize, the Nike Award, for his book Matka odchodzi (Mother Is Leaving).