‘We cannot talk about writing in New Zealand without acknowledging her … Kidman’s accessible prose and the way she shows (mainly) women grappling to escape from restricting social pressures has guaranteed her a permanent place in our fiction.’ — New Zealand Books
Fiona Kidman has worked as a librarian, creative writing teacher, radio producer and critic, but primarily as a writer. She has published over 20 books, including novels, poetry, non-fiction and a play. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, her most recent novel The Captive Wife being runner up in the 2006 Montana Book Awards Deutz Medal for Fiction. She was created a Dame (DNZM) in 1998 in recognition of her contribution to literature and more recently a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honour.
‘In her craft and her storytelling and in her compassionate gutsy tough expression of female experience, she is the best we have’ — The New Zealand Listener