Madeleine Thien is a highly acclaimed Canadian author, celebrated for her work in novels and short stories. She is of Chinese descent and is known for her writings in various genres including young adult, literary fiction, contemporary, coming of age, historical fiction, cultural, adult fiction, and women fiction stories. Thien's work often reflects the transcultural nature of Canadian literature and explores themes such as expression, politics, and art within the context of China, Cambodia, and other Asian communities.
Thien was born in Vancouver and has authored several books, including the story collection "Simple Recipes" (2001), and novels such as "Certainty" (2006), "Dogs at the Perimeter" (2011), and "Do Not Say We Have Nothing" (2016). "Do Not Say We Have Nothing" is a notable work that won the Governor General's Award in 2016 for English language fiction and the Scotiabank Giller Prize. The novel is set in the Shanghai Conservatory in the 1960s and explores the legacy of the 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations, and has been translated into 25 languages. It was also shortlisted for several prestigious awards, including the Man Booker Prize, the Rathbones Folio Prize, and the Baileys Women's Fiction Prize.
Thien's work has been published in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. In addition to her writing, she has also contributed to several literary magazines, including Granta, The Walrus, Five Dials, Brick, and the Asia Literary Review. Thien has received numerous awards for her work, including the Ovid Festival Prize in 2010, awarded annually to an international writer of promise. She currently resides in Montreal.