Teika Marija Smits is a UK-based writer, freelance editor and mother-of-two. Her poetry, short fiction and non-fiction have been widely published. Teika was formerly the managing editor of Mother’s Milk Books and is now an Editor-at-Large at Valley Press alongside running The Book Stewards – a writers’ support site that she manages with her husband. In her spare moments she likes to doodle, draw and paint. She is delighted by the fact that ‘Teika’ means fairy tale in Latvian (she is half-Latvian; the other half is Russian). She was born in Windsor, Berkshire, in the 1970s and can still remember a time before the internet and smartphones. (In the eyes of her children, that makes her ancient!) She is represented by Catherine Cho at Paper Literary.

Teika is the author of the poetry pamphlet, Russian Doll (Indigo Dreams Publishing), the cross-genre short story collection, Umbilical (NewCon Press), and the micro short story collection Waterlore, which was recently published by Black Shuck Books. All books are available from the publishers’ websites and also via Amazon. Alternatively, they can be ordered at Waterstones or independent bookshops. (Or directly through Teika.) To get a sense of the kind of introspective and powerful speculative fiction that Teika writes, head on over to Interzone Digital where you can read her story, ‘The November Room or Leaving the Labyrinth’ for free.