Valerie Helps

Valerie Helps was born in London and grew up in East Africa. Widely travelled, she has lived in Australia, Greece and France, where she established herself as a successful travel writer and illustrator.

Valerie's first book, Freckles the Fawn, was written when she was eighteen. In Australia, she established Valerie's Page, a popular children's page in a major Sunday newspaper, with stories inspired by her children and her African background. Seven of these featured in her television series.

Her short stories, poetry and children's books have been published in journals and newspapers worldwide.

During the eighties, Valerie worked with Youth Orchestras and as Orchestra Manager in the Sydney Opera House. When she needed something "completely different", she moved to Crete to lease out holiday villas and later left for France with Geoffrey, her new partner, to spend the summers on their canal boat ‘de Villehardouin'. She now lives in Sydney.