Maria Wolkowsky was educated at North Sydney Girls High School. She left Australia for Europe during the 1950s and performed as a dramatic soprano in Germany, Spain and London's Covent Garden. Unable to find suitable singing engagements on her return to Australia, Wolkowsky became the founding arts editor of the Australian newspaper. She later moved to the Bulletin where she wrote the arts gossip column under the name 'Marietta'. She retired from the Bulletin in 1999 but continued to write reviews for the British magazine Opera.
Wolkowsky was married to Curt Prerauer, a music critic for the Sydney Morning Herald. She died in Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital having contracted pnuemonia following a fall.
