Maria Konopnicka, born to the Wasilowski family, used the pseudonym Jan Sawa and others. She was born on 23 May 1842 in Suwalki and is known as a poet, a novelist, a writer for children, a translator, journalist and critic. From 1878 she lived in Warsaw, where she engaged in wide literary and social activity. She travelled extensively. This volume contains a selection of her best short stories and poetry.