Hetmanek studied musicology, literature and theatre, as well as film and television studies at the universities of Bochum and Cologne. After completing her studies, she took up posts as a dramaturg at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf/Duisburg, at the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen and at the Dortmund Opera. She has been a member of artistic director Jens-Daniel Herzog's team at Staatstheater Nürnberg since 2018/19. As a freelance dramaturg, she has also worked and published for, amongst others, the Rheingau Music Festival, the Philharmonie Essen, the Konzerthaus Dortmund, the Nuremberg Philharmonic, the Ruhr Piano Festival, the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen and the Bad Hersfeld Festival. Wiebke Hetmanek is also the author of various operas for children and young people. She has enjoyed a long-standing collaboration with the director Ilaria Lanzino.