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!) Currently editing her debut novel, Bluebeard’s Theatre, she is trying to stay away from the lure of the said internet, which is difficult when trying to research Victorian London… She is represented by Catherine Cho at Paper Literary.

Her debut poetry pamphet, Russian Doll was published on 25th March 2021 by Indigo Dreams Publishing. To read some poems from the collection and to buy a copy direct from the publisher, click here, or email Teika if you want to purchase a signed copy: marija.smits@googlemail.com

‘Russian Doll’ is also available to buy from Amazon and other major retailers such as Waterstones.