Celia Rees (born 17 June 1949) is an English

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. Celia Rees was born in

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

and attended Tudor Grange Grammar School for Girls. She studied

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and

Politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

Warwick University , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

and has a PGCE and a master's degree in Education from

Birmingham University , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

. She became a teacher after leaving university and taught English in

comprehensive schools A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

for sixteen years and this is when she began to write. Her intention was to ‘write for teenagers, books that they would want to read, almost adult in style and content.’ She left teaching in 1989. After working part-time in

Further Education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. I ...

and as an Open Studies Lecturer for

Warwick University , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

, she became a full-time writer in 1997. Celia is a regular tutor for the

Arvon Foundation The Arvon Foundation is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom that promotes creative writing. Arvon is one of Arts Council England's National Portfolio Organisations. Andrew Kidd is the Chief Executive Officer, Patricia Cumper is Ch ...

, is a member of the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. , it represents over 12,000 members and as ...

, and has been

Chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

of the Children's Writers and Illustrators Group. She is a member of the Scattered Authors Society and a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

English Association The English Association is a subject association for English dedicated to furthering the study and enjoyment of English language and literature in schools, higher education institutes and amongst the public in general. It was founded in 1906 by ...

. Celia lives with her husband, Terence Rees in

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

. She has one daughter, Catrin, who is a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Writing

Celia Rees writes mainly for

young adults A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

and has written across a range of genre from

thrillers Thriller is a genre of fiction, having numerous, often overlapping subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. Suc ...

, including her first novel, ''Every Step You Take'' (1993) to ''This Is Not Forgiveness'' (2012) to

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

and

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...

, beginning with the

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

novel, ''Blood Sinister'' (1996)) and ending (for the time being) with ''The Stone Testament'' (2007). She is perhaps best known for her

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

. '' Witch Child'' (2000) was

shortlisted A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...

for the

Guardian Children's Fiction Prize The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annual recognised one fiction book written for children or young adults (at least age eight) and published in the United Kingdom. It was conferred upon the author ...

(2001) and won the

Prix Sorcières The Prix Sorcières is an annual literary prize awarded in France since 1986 to works of children's literature in a number of categories. The categories were renamed in 2018. The prizewinners are decided jointly by the ALSJ (''Association des Libra ...

in France (2003). The sequel, ''Sorceress'' (2002), was shortlisted for the Whitbread (Costa) Children's Book Award; and ''Pirates!'' (2003) was shortlisted for the W.H. Smith Children's Book Award. ''Sovay'' followed in 2008 and ''The Fool’s Girl'' in 2010 Celia Rees's novels have been translated into 28 languages. Her books for younger readers include ''The Bailey Game'' (1994) and the ''Trap in Time Trilogy'' (2001/2).

List of works

* ''Every Step You Take'' (1993) * ''The Bailey Game'' (1994) * ''Colour her Dead'' (1994) * ''Blood Sinister'' (1996) *Anthologized with other

Point Horror ''Point Horror'' is a series of young adult horror fiction books. The series was most popular among teenaged girls.Coles, Martin. Hall, Christine. ''Children's Reading Choices''. Routledge, 1998, p 46. History The ''Point Horror'' series was laun ...

in ''Decayed'' (2001) * ''Midnight Hour'' (1997) * ''Ghost Chamber'' (1997) * ''The Vanished'' (1997) * ''H Is for Haunting'' (1998) * ''A Is for Apparition'' (1998) * ''U Is for Unbeliever'' (1998) * ''N Is for Nightmare'' (1998) * ''T Is for Terror'' (1998) * ''S Is for Shudder'' (1998) * ''Soul Taker'' (1998) * ''Truth or Dare'' (2000) * ''The Cunning Man'' (2000) * '' Witch Child'' (2000) * Trap in Time Trilogy: ''Trap in Time'' (2001), ''City of Shadows'' (2002), and ''The Host Rides Out'' (2002) * ''Sorceress'' (2002) * ''Pirates!'' (2003) * ''Wish House'' (2005) * ''Stone Testament'' (2007) * ''Sovay'' (2008) * ''The Fool’s Girl'' (2011) * ''This Is Not Forgiveness'' (2012) * ''Daughters of Time'' (2014) * ''Glass Town Wars'' (2019)

Notes

References

External links

Official site

Bloomsbury biography

Complete list of works

British Council
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Celia 1949 births Living people English fantasy writers English children's writers English horror writers People from Solihull Alumni of the University of Warwick Alumni of the University of Birmingham Fellows of the English Association