Teika Marija Smits is a UK-based freelance editor and the author of the short story collections Umbilical (NewCon Press), which was shortlisted for the 2024 Rubery Book Award, and Waterlore (Black Shuck Books), as well as the poetry pamphlet Russian Doll (Indigo Dreams Publishing). Most recently, she edited the We-inspired speculative fiction anthology The Utopia of Us (Luna Press Publishing) in order to celebrate the centenary of the first publication of Zamyatin’s We and to raise funds for the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. In August 2024 she was shortlisted for the British Fantasy Society’s Best Newcomer Award for Umbilical and Waterlore. In spare moments she likes to make art and dreams of one day creating her own illustrated book.
She is delighted by the fact that ‘Teika’ means fairy tale in Latvian (she is half-Latvian; the other half is Russian). Born in Windsor, Berkshire, in the 1970s she 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.