She is a writer, novelist, translator, poet and Holocaus survivor of Hungarian descent; during World War II she was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp. She made her debut as a novelist with the book Who Loves You Like This, in 1959. During the 1960s, while writing for several Italian papers, she started working in movies, collaborating with directors as Nelo Risi and Gillo Pontecorvo. In 1971 she worte her firs theatre piece, Sulla porta, followed by Mara, Maria, Marianna in 1974, and Per il tuo bene in 1975. In 1979 she directed the movie Improvviso. She translated into Italian several major Hungarian poets. Her literary production has been ongoing for over sixty years, and her last novel, Il pane perduto, was shortlisted for the Premio Strega in 2021.