Danuta Gleed Literary Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 5 (2002) Nominee
Madeleine Thien
マデレーン・ティエン
Madeleine Thien
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1974-01-01 （Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada）
- Nationality
- Canada
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Vancouver (born) → Montreal (residence) → Hong Kong (teaching/visiting) → Brooklyn (work/teaching)
Career
- Occupations
- Writer, Novelist, Short story writer, Academic (creative writing)
- Active Years
- 1999-
- Affiliations
- Brooklyn College (MFA program faculty)
- Influenced By
- Alice Munro (praised her debut)
- Nominations
- 2016 Man Booker Prize (shortlist), 2017 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (shortlist), 2017 Rathbones Folio Prize (shortlist), 2015 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award (shortlist for "The Wedding Cake")
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simon Fraser University | Contemporary Dance (studies) | — | — | — | Canada |
| University of British Columbia | Fine Arts (Creative Writing) | — | MFA | — | Canada |
Simon Fraser University
Contemporary Dance (studies)
Country:
Canada
Studied contemporary dance before switching focus to creative writing.
University of British Columbia
Fine Arts (Creative Writing)
Degree:
MFA
Country:
Canada
Earned a Master's degree (MFA) in Creative Writing (year not specified).
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | City of Vancouver Book Award (for Simple Recipes) | Simple Recipes | — | City of Vancouver | 受賞 |
| — | Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize | Simple Recipes | — | British Columbia literary organizations | 受賞 |
| — | Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award | Certainty | — | Amazon.ca / Books in Canada | 受賞 |
| 2015 | LiBeraturpreis | Dogs at the Perimeter | — | Frankfurt Book Fair (LiBeraturpreis) | 受賞 |
| 2016 | Governor General's Award for English-language fiction | Do Not Say We Have Nothing | — | Governor General's Awards (Canada) | 受賞 |
| 2016 | Scotiabank Giller Prize | Do Not Say We Have Nothing | — | Scotiabank Giller Prize | 受賞 |
| 2024 | Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award | — | — | Writers' Trust of Canada | 受賞（功績賞） |
| — | Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards (Fiction) | Do Not Say We Have Nothing | Fiction | Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards | 受賞 |
City of Vancouver Book Award (for Simple Recipes)
Work:
Simple Recipes
Organization:
City of Vancouver
Result:
受賞
Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize
Work:
Simple Recipes
Organization:
British Columbia literary organizations
Result:
受賞
Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award
Work:
Certainty
Organization:
Amazon.ca / Books in Canada
Result:
受賞
LiBeraturpreis
2015
Work:
Dogs at the Perimeter
Organization:
Frankfurt Book Fair (LiBeraturpreis)
Result:
受賞
Governor General's Award for English-language fiction
2016
Work:
Do Not Say We Have Nothing
Organization:
Governor General's Awards (Canada)
Result:
受賞
Scotiabank Giller Prize
2016
Work:
Do Not Say We Have Nothing
Organization:
Scotiabank Giller Prize
Result:
受賞
Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award
2024
Organization:
Writers' Trust of Canada
Result:
受賞（功績賞）
Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards (Fiction)
Work:
Do Not Say We Have Nothing
Category:
Fiction
Organization:
Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Ovid Prize (Ovidius Prize)
1 appearances
Giller Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 23 (2016) Winner
Works
Major Works
Simple Recipes
2001 Short story collectionA collection of short stories exploring intergenerational conflicts and intercultural relationships among immigrant families.
immigrationfamilyintergenerational conflict
The Chinese Violin
2001 Children's bookA children's story adapted from a National Film Board short about a young Chinese girl and her musician father adjusting to life in Vancouver.
cultural adaptationfamilymusic
Certainty
2006 NovelFollows a documentary producer searching for the truth about her father's experiences during Japanese-occupied Malaysia; deals with memory, history and trauma.
memoryhistorical traumaidentity
Dogs at the Perimeter
2011 NovelCenters on associates at a Montreal brain research centre and their traumatic ties to the Cambodian genocide.
traumagenocidememory
Do Not Say We Have Nothing
2016 NovelA multi-generational novel following young musicians growing up in China during the Cultural Revolution and the immigrant daughter who becomes keeper of a mysterious Book of Records; explores politics, art and memory.
Cultural Revolutionpolitics and artmemory and inheritancediaspora
The Book of Records
2025 NovelPublished in 2025; detailed synopsis available from publisher.
Bibliography
- Simple Recipes (2001)
- The Chinese Violin (2001)
- Certainty (2006)
- Dogs at the Perimeter (2011)
- Do Not Say We Have Nothing (2016)
- My Mother, Reading a Novel (2020, essay)
- The Book of Records (2025)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- lyrical, layered narrationpolyphonic technique intersecting history and personal memoryliterary realism engaging political themes
- Recurring Motifs
- memorymusicoppression and resistanceimmigration and diasporafamily inheritance
Legacy
Madeleine Thien is recognized as a major contemporary Canadian writer whose trans-cultural perspective links political history, memory and diasporic experience; she has won and been shortlisted for multiple major literary awards.
Quotes
-
"This is surely the debut of a splendid writer. I am astonished by the clarity and ease of the writing, and a kind of emotional purity."
Source: Alice Munro (praise for Simple Recipes) (2001)
Trivia
- Partner is novelist Rawi Hage.
- Studied contemporary dance at Simon Fraser University and earned an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia.
- Do Not Say We Have Nothing won the Governor General's Award and the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2016.
- Her books have been translated into more than 25 languages.
- Has taught in MFA programs including City University of Hong Kong and Brooklyn College.