Helen Fitzgerald

Name: Helen Fitzgerald
Age: 42
Country of Origin: Australia
Lived in Scotland: 15 years

In 2007, Australian Helen Fitzgerald left a secure job as a social worker in Glasgow to become a self-employed writer. She writes dark comedy thrillers for adults and is currently writing a book for teenagers. Helen came to Scotland in 1994 to study for a Masters in social work.

We asked her why she chose Scotland as the place to live. "I fell in love with a Scots-Italian while studying in London. We both had good job prospects here," she told us. Plus, she told us, the rest of Europe is within easy reach, which is important as "we spend a lot of time in his family’s hometown in Italy."

They are clearly happy living in Scotland. "I love the size of Glasgow but you can be in glorious countryside in only twenty minutes. And I find the opportunities in the creative industries are boundless." 

Helen's husband Sergio Casci is a screenwriter and they are working on a series for BBC television based on two of her books.

Helen has lived in Glasgow since completing her masters. Her background as a criminal justice social worker in a Glasgow prison is useful when Helen is writing her novels. "After ten years of listening to Scottish offenders' life stories, I was boiling over with raw material," although the subject matter is often gruesome. "Sergio and I have two offices in the attic of our house, and yell weird things to each other like 'How would you dissolve a body?'" We asked if she wants to stay here permanently.

Helen and Sergio have often considered moving to Australia to live, "usually in the winter!" she tells us. "But the pros have always outweighed the cons" to stay in Scotland. She keeps in regular contact with her family and friends back home and visits every 18 months with the family. "My daughter and son are very settled here and we would be reluctant to move them from their excellent state schools."As well as that she believes, "the quality of life is high in terms of housing, schools, health care and employment," in Scotland.

When asked what she likes about Scotland, Helen tells us it's the landscape, the locals and the food. Compared to Australia Scotland feels small. But Helen clearly has a passion for Scotland's glorious countryside. "Every second weekend my friends and I drive for less than an hour and do a beautiful walk. The scenery is always spectacular, no matter what the weather and there is always somewhere lovely to eat afterwards."
Helen says Scots are "initially grumpy, but crack that and there's an unpretentious honesty that I love. Glaswegians in particular are so down-to-earth. They don't value stuff, they value good chat. It's refreshing and real."

And lastly Helen is quite fond of the slightly more quirky Glaswegian delicacy of chips and curry sauce. Although she does admit that it helps to be tipsy; "if you are there’s nothing like it!" she says.