Writer Kidman gets her dream

Fiona Kidman has been named 2006 Katherine Mansfield Memorial Fellow.

The award is New Zealand's premier writing fellowship, and allows a writer to work in Menton, France, and live in the Villa Isola Bella, where Mansfield lived and wrote.

Dame Fiona says travelling to Menton has been a dream of hers.

Previous fellows include Bill Manhire, Witi Ihimaera, Roger Hall, Maurice Gee and Ian Wedde.