Agata was born and raised in Poland. She is Professor of English and John P. Collett Chair in Rhetoric at Wabash College. Her publications include The Hunger Book: A Memoir from Communist Poland, winner of the 2022 Gournay Prize. She has also published scholarly books on 20th-century literature, as well as essays and short stories, and she co-edited a special issue of Interventions on Irish and South African literatures.
Agata lives in Crawfordsville, Indiana, where she volunteers as a Court Appointed Special Advocate. She is the founder and chair of Immigrant Allies.