As well as being a writer, Celia gives talks on her writing and teaches Creative Writing on the University of Warwick Open Studies Programme. Her latest books are Sovay (2008), The Fool's Girl (2010), This Is Not Forgiveness (2012) and Daughters of Time (2014). Witch Child was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 2001, and was followed by a sequel, Sorceress, published in 2002, and shortlisted for the 2003 Whitbread Children's Book Award. It is the story of Mary, whose grandmother was hung for being a witch, and of Mary's flight to the New World from persecution in England in the seventeenth century. Her book, Witch Child (2000), was inspired by a trip to the American Museum near Bath and brought back her fascination with the American history she had studied at university. She often sets them in particular places and eras, and undergoes extensive research, taking her inspiration from the world around her - stories from newspapers, people she meets, and places she visits, particularly museums and art galleries. Celia Rees' books are written for older children and teenagers, and usually include an element of fear. In 2000, Truth or Dare was also published, a gripping novel about a boy who uncovers, layer by layer, a terrible family secret.

These include the HAUNTS series (1998), which starts with four children embarking on their city's traditional ghost tour The Bailey Game (1994), about a vicious game played on new pupils who arrive at school and The Cunning Man (2000), set at Salt House, where nightmares of drowning recur. Her first novel, Every Step You Take - a thriller for teenagers - was published in 1993, and was followed by many more thrillers and tales of horror and the supernatural. She took a degree in History and Politics at the University of Warwick and worked as a secondary school English teacher for seventeen years, during which time she also became a writer. Celia Rees was born in 1949 and grew up in Solihull, England.

Sorceress by celia rees