Celia Rees was born in Solihull, West Midlands and attended Tudor Grange Grammar School for Girls.

[1] She became a teacher after leaving university and taught English in comprehensive schools in Coventry for sixteen years and this is when she began to write.

Celia is a regular tutor for the Arvon Foundation, is a member of the Society of Authors, and has been Chair of the Children's Writers and Illustrators Group.

Celia Rees writes mainly for young adults and has written across a range of genre from thrillers, including her first novel, Every Step You Take (1993) to This Is Not Forgiveness (2012) to gothic and speculative fiction, beginning with the vampire novel, Blood Sinister (1996)) and ending (for the time being) with The Stone Testament (2007).

[2][3] Witch Child (2000) was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize (2001) and won the Prix Sorcières in France (2003).