Karen Laws has been named as one of the five Fellows in the Arts Foundation Awards 2006, alongside jazz composer Ingrid Laubrock, painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, performance poet Tim Turnbull and furniture designer Patrik Fredrikson.

Her part-time day job sees her undertaking research work as part of the Council's move towards transferring its 2,300 homes to a locally managed housing association.

But how does this compare to working with television actors she has script-written for in hit series such as the BBC's Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps?

"Well, it's certainly a good contrast, and all good material," she joked.

Other material is found in her native Byker, Newcastle.

"Oh, it's teaming with characters. They have got some fantastic stories."

This may fit in with the description of her work on the Arts Foundation website: "A comedy writer with a tendency to explore characters in her work who inhabit the scruffy underbelly of society."

Karen's latest project is a play she is writing for the Live Theatre, Newcastle, based on women working in an office, which she confesses 'probably will be a bit naturalistic as far as office dynamics go'.

Karen took an MA in Creative Writing at Newcastle's Northumbria University from 2000-02, studying part-time, one night per week. She went on to win BBC competition Falling About, writing a 30 minute script about women selling stolen clothes from a pub toilet.

This award gave her £1,000 but, more importantly, gave her a mentor to work with, beginning her collaboration with Paul Mayhew-Archer, writer of the Vicar of Dibley and script editor of Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps for BBC2.

Karen wrote some episodes for the hit comedy and also wrote a play for Live Theatre called 'Dirty Nets'.

She said: "There's a huge difference between writing for television and writing for theatre, they demand very different things from their audiences but they both give you the chance to work with very good actors."

Karen was entered for the Arts Foundation award by Melanie Harris, the Manchester-based BBC producer who organised the initial competition Falling About.

"I'm going to do quite a bit of research this year, " she said. "Because I'm interested in writing for television and the stage, and because the forms are so different I want to have space to look at both of them. I'm interested in structure and form." she said.

"This year I'm going to be able to go to the Edinburgh Festival and see what's new and innovative. I can go to London and look at what's going on at the moment.

"It's not worrying about commissions, but doing something original. That's what winning this award allows me to do."