Davies, the youngest of four children in a Welsh-speaking family, was raised in Otley, West Yorkshire, England.
She later managed the Welsh-language children's publisher, Cymdeithas Lyfrau Ceredigion, before becoming Literature Officer of the Arts Council of Wales in 1995.
Davies was the original fiction editor of Parthian Books, working on titles such as Rachel Trezise's Fresh Apples, which won the Dylan Thomas Prize in 2006.
Davies also edited Alcemi Books, the literary fiction imprint of Y Lolfa.
She altered the format and appearance of the magazine and included in it regular illustrations by the freelance designer Jamie Hamley.