South of France beckons poet Jenny Bornholdt

Winner of the Katherine Mansfield Fellowship Jenny Bornholdt tells CARROLL DU CHATEAU the award means precious time to write.

It's an incredible chance. I feel like the luckiest woman in the world," says Wellington poet Jenny Bornholdt, this year's winner of the Meridian Energy Katherine Mansfield Fellowship which entitles her to four months in the South of France.

"I will be writing, though," she adds. "For me, the marvellous thing is they're giving me time - I get six months of writing."

For the mother of two boys, 5 1/2 and 2 1/2, this is no small thing. Bornholdt, 41, says she has had little solid time for her poetry over the past couple of years. Now, thanks to the award, she will be able to sit down at her desk in Isola Bella, under the very room where Katherine Mansfield stayed when she lived in Menton, close to where Cezanne painted his masterpieces, and write her heart out.

Meanwhile Greg O'Brien, her husband and fellow poet and painter, will look after the children - and organise a side trip into the French countryside in August when Meridian take over the flat for a couple of weeks.

Which is all part of the plan. The Katherine Mansfield Fellowship, which was the creation of writers, editors, travellers and creative-world philanthropists Cecil and Celia Manson from Days Bay, was always intended as not "just" a writing experience, but a life experience too

"The idea is to give people somewhere to write and also to give New Zealand writers a chance to be part of another culture for a period of time," says Bornholdt, who intends to stay in France for six months with her family.

"It's a wonderful thing they've done for the writing community."

Yet another success story from Bill Manhire's writing course at Victoria University in Wellington, Bornholdt has published six poetry books including a Selected Poems. Her latest book, These Days, was published last year.

She began as a journalist and says Manhire's course was what got her writing seriously.

"I did the original composition course over six months as part of a BA in English Lit. Elizabeth Knox was in the same year. He's very good at steering people in the right direction of other writers it might be good to read."