Celia Rees is an English author, known for her works in children's, YA, and adult fiction. She was born on 17 June 1949 in Solihull, West Midlands.

Rees attended Tudor Grange Grammar School for Girls and studied History and Politics at the University of Warwick. She holds a PGCE and a master's degree in Education from Birmingham University.

After university, Celia became a teacher, teaching English in comprehensive schools in Coventry for sixteen years. During this time, she began writing with the intention of creating books for teenagers that were almost adult in style and content. She left teaching in 1989 to pursue writing full-time, becoming a full-time writer in 1997 after part-time roles in Further Education and as an Open Studies Lecturer for Warwick University.

Celia Rees has written over twenty YA titles, and her works have been translated into 28 languages. She has been shortlisted for the Guardian, Whitbread (now Costa), and W.H. Smith Children’s Book Awards.

She is a regular tutor for the Arvon Foundation, a member of the Society of Authors, a Fellow of the English Association, and has served as Chair of the Children's Writers and Illustrators Group.

Rees lives in Leamington Spa with her husband, Terence Rees. They have one daughter, Catrin, who is a lawyer in London.