Irina Liebmann studied Sinology in Leipzig, and has lived as a freelance writer in East and later West Berlin since 1975. She has received numerous awards for her books including the Aspekte-Literaturpreis; the Berlin Literaturpreis, and the 2008 Leipzig Book Fair Prize in the category “Non-Fiction/Essays” for the biography of her father Rudolf Herrnstadt, Wäre es schön? Es wäre schön!

Irina Liebmann began her professional career in 1967 as editor of the scholarly journal Deutsche Außenpolitik. From 1975, she mainly worked for the Wochenpost. She has written numerous reports about people living in the GDR, as well as radio plays, stage plays and children's books.

She later developed a form of non-fictional prose which always is lyrical and dramatic. Her works usually are set in the center of Berlin as a location of German history and in the present day. The strength of her prose, essays and poetry lies in the connection between poetic language with a keen eye for experienced time.