Fiona Kidman

Fiona Kidman, born 26 March, 1940 in Hawera, New Zealand, is a respected and popular New Zealand novelist, poet and scriptwriter.

Life and Work

Fiona Kidman grew up in Northland and worked as a librarian in Rotorua after leaving school. She married Ian Kidman in 1960 and they have a son and daughter. She now lives in Wellington.

Kidman began her writing career as a freelance journalist in the early 1960s and was mentored by Bruce Mason and William Austin in theatre and radio theatre. Her first of eight novels was published in 1979, and she has also published four short story collections and four collections of poetry. Her work is often concerned with the effects of suburban and provincial lower middle-class life, its morals and its hypocrisies.

Kidman has been strongly active in the literary community, serving as the national president of PEN from 1981 to 1983 and as the president of the New Zealand Book Council from 1992 to 1995. In 1988 she was awarded an OBE, and in 1998 was made Dames Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to literature. In 1988 she founded and ran the Fiona Kidman Creative Writing School, which is now part of [http://www.whitireia.ac.nz/ Whitireia Community Polytechnic] . She is currently the Meridian Energy Katherine Mansfield Memorial Fellow for 2006 and President of Honour of the New Zealand Book Council. Her latest novel, "The Captive Wife" was runner-up for the Deutz Medal and won the Readers' Choice award at the 2006 Montana New Zealand Book Awards

Bibliography

Novels

*"A Breed of Women" (1979)
*"Mandarin Summer" (1981)
*"Paddy's Puzzle" (1983) (USA title: "In the Clear Light")
*"The Book of Secrets" (1987)
*"True Stars" (1990)
*"Ricochet Baby" (1996)
*"Songs from the Violet Café" (2003)
*"The Captive Wife" (2005)

hort Story Collections

*"Mrs Dixon & Friend" (1982)
*"Unsuitable Friends" (1988)
*"The Foreign Woman" (1994)
*"The House Within" (1997)
*"The Best of Fiona Kidman's Short Stories" (1998)
*"A Needle in the Heart" (2002)

Poetry

*"Honey & Bitters" (1975)
*"On the Tightrope" (1977)
*"Going to the Chathams" (1985)
*"Wakeful Nights" (1993)

Plays

*"Search for Sister Blue" (1975)

Non-Fiction

*"Gone North" (1984)
*"Wellington" (1989)

Editor

*"New Zealand Love Stories: An Oxford Anthology" (1998)
*"The Best New Zealand Fiction:1" (2004)
*"The Best New Zealand Fiction:2" (2005)

Awards

*Ngaio Marsh Award for television writing (1972)
*New Zealand Scholarship in Letters (1981)
*Mobil New Zealand/ Outlook Short Story Award (1985)
*New Zealand Book Awards for The Book of Secrets (1987)
*OBE for services to literature (1988)
*Arts Council Award for Achievement (1988)
*Dame Commander New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature (1998)
*AW Reed Award for Lifetime Achievement (2001)
*Meridian Energy Katherine Mansfield Fellow (2006)
*Runner up Deutz Medal and winner of People's Choice at Montana New Zealand Book Awards (2006)

References and bibliography

* [http://www.fionakidman.co.nz/ Official website]
* [http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/kidmanfiona.html New Zealand Book Council author information page]