Fiona Kidman

Dame Fiona Judith Kidman, DNZM, OBE (born 26 March 1940 in Hawera, New Zealand), is a New Zealand novelist, poet, scriptwriter and short story author.

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 is 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 founded and ran the Fiona Kidman Creative Writing School, which is now part of Whitireia Community Polytechnic. She was 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. She was knighted in 1998 for her services to literature.

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)

Short 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)
• The Trouble with Fire (2011)

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)
• Officer, Order of the British Empire 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)
• Knight, Order of Arts and Letters (2009)
• Knight, Legion of Honour (2009)

References and bibliography

• Official website
• New Zealand Book Council author information page