With her first short story collection Simple Recipies (M&S), Madeleine Thien received the City of Vancouver Book Award for the best book about the city in 2001. She also received VanCity Book Prize for best book pertaining to women's issues and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. Illustrated by Joe Chang, Thien's children's book The Chinese Violin (Whitecap), based on a true story about an eight-year-old girl and her father who emigrate from China, is the basis for an NFB animated short. Thien received a 2001 Canadian Authors Association Air Canada award for most promising writer under age 30. She was born in Vancouver. She studed English literature and dance at Simon Fraser University prior to pursuing a Creative Writing degree at UBC. She completed a Masters degree in 2001.