Neri, Celia
Since 2017 Celia Neri has had six short stories published, in Apex Magazine, The Café Irreal, and Three Crows Magazine, among others. They are French, from a Mediterranean multicultural family, and live near the Italian border. Before becoming a teacher they studied Comparative Literature and Classical Humanities.
In their debut novel, THE LIE OF THE LAND, THE TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY meets THE SPACE BETWEEN WORLDS, with a story that focuses on friendship, borders, and the falsehoods we are taught. A woman’s quest to find her adoptive mother pits her against an organisation that can alter reality thanks to cartography.
Ode is a World Walker who can step into maps. When she finds one that depicts an impossible reality, she needs advice from Marena, the woman who raised her and who is herself a cartographer with the ability to manipulate worlds. But the older woman has vanished and no one else remembers her. In a race against a mysterious enemy, Ode will need to find Marena and enter with her in a universe that shouldn’t exist, or lose her freedom.