178 MAY 2017
Inspired by...
[ End notes ]
of European literature that opened
my eyes to other cultures.
The piece of advice I’ve never forgotten
is... “Drive by your mirrors.” As an
older driver, I try to stay alert to
what is behind me as well as
ahead of me on the road.
If I could invent one thing it
would be... A machine that
irons shirts.
If I could have only three
books on my shelf they
would be... Opened Ground,
Poems 1966-1996, by
Seamus Heaney, Selected
Stories, by Alice Munro, and
the handwritten book left by my
mother, Flora Eakin, recording her
and my forebears’ story.
My advice to my 15-year-old self would
be...Don’t let go of your dreams, even
whenyou are up against things.
If I could have any five people to a
dinner party they would be... Canadian
shortstory writer Alice Munro; the
poet Lauris Edmond, who was my
friend for many years; former Prime
Minister Helen Clark; Sir Peter
Ustinov; and Australian novelist
Patrick White. Two have eaten at my
house and I wish they could come
again. I raise my glass in memory.For tickets to the Auckland Writers
Festival, see writersfestival.co.nz PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTY IMAGES AND ROBERT CROSS.Dame Fiona Kidman is the Honoured New
Zealand Writer at the 2017 Auckland Writers
Festival, which runs from May 16-21.
THE BRAVEST THING I HAVE
EVER DONE IS...
Hard to define. I’ve done crazy
stunts like flying in a vintage two-
seater plane to promote my book
The Infinite Air, about the aviator
Jean Batten. But I think true courage
comes from coping with the
illnesses of those you love and the
crises of family life.When I need extra inspiration to write...
I close my eyes sometimes and am
transported back to places like Menton
in the south of France where one
wonderful year I held the Katherine
Mansfield Fellowship, or Greece where
I have spent sunlit writing holidays.
Other times, I take a brisk walk down
When I’m
working hard
I unwind by...
GOING TO THE
MOVIES.the street where I live,
looking out on the
ocean and mountains,
and marvel at living in
such a beautiful world.
The fictional literary character
I would bring to life is... Becky Sharp
from Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. She’s
not particularly nice and needs some
lessons in good parenting, but she is
witty and determined, and pokes fun
at staid conventional society.
My ultimate indulgence is... A train
trip through the North Island that
ends at National Park, where Ian (my
husband) and I are picked up and
taken for two blissful nights to the
Chateau Tongariro.
The person who has most influenced
my work is... Kit
Spencer, the
head librarian I worked for in a
small town when I was young.
She introduced me
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