Helen Fielding is a renowned British journalist, novelist, and screenwriter, celebrated for creating the beloved character Bridget Jones. Born in 1958 in Yorkshire, Fielding began her career with a novel set in a refugee camp in East Africa before her breakthrough with Bridget Jones. The character originally appeared in an anonymous column in London’s Independent newspaper, capturing readers’ imaginations and leading to the first Bridget Jones novel, Bridget Jones’s Diary (1996). This book, which became an unexpected global bestseller, was published in over 40 countries and has been recognized by The Guardian as one of the ten novels that best defined the 20th century.

Following the success of Bridget Jones’s Diary, Fielding continued to chronicle Bridget’s adventures in three more novels: Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (1999), Bridget Jones’s Mad About the Boy (2013), and Bridget Jones’s Baby: The Diaries (2017). Each book solidified Bridget’s place in popular culture, with Mad About the Boy spending six months at the top of the Sunday Times bestseller list. The New York Times also named Bridget Jones’s Diary as one of the funniest novels since Catch-22 in 2024.

Fielding’s creation transcended literature with successful film adaptations, including Bridget Jones’s Diary, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, and Bridget Jones’s Baby. The latter broke UK box office records, showcasing Bridget’s continued appeal. A fourth film, based on Mad About the Boy and scheduled for release in 2025, will feature Renée Zellweger reprising her iconic role.

In addition to her literary and cinematic successes, Fielding was named the 29th most influential person in British culture in a 2004 BBC poll and recognized by BBC’s Woman’s Hour in 2016 as one of the seven women who most influenced British female culture. Fielding is currently working on a new non-Bridget novel, promising to bring fresh narratives to her readers.