Vancouver-born author Madeleine Thien wins Governor General's 2016 Literary Award for fiction

Vancouver-born and -raised author Madeleine Thien has won the 2016 Governor General's Literary Award for fiction for her novel Do Not Say We Have Nothing.

The English-language winners of this year's Governor General Literary Awards are:

Fiction: Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien (Montreal, Quebec)

Nonfiction: A World We Have Lost: Saskatchewan Before 1905 by Bill Waiser (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)

Poetry: The Waking Comes Late by Steven Heighton (Kingston, Ontario)

Young People's Literature (text): Calvin by Martine Leavitt (High River, Alberta)

Young People's Literature (illustrated books): Tokyo Digs a Garden by Jon-Erik Lappano and Kellen Hatanaka (Guelph and Stratford, Ontario)

Translation (French to English): The Party Wall translated by Lazer Lederhendler (Montreal, Quebec), written by Catherine Leroux

Drama: Pig Girl by Colleen Murphy (Toronto, Ontario)

The winners will receive their awards on November 30 from Governor General David Johnston at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.

Thien's Do Not Say We Have Nothing begins in Vancouver in the 1990s when a family takes in a woman who has fled China amid the Tiananmen Square demonstrations.

The story goes on to chronicle the lives of three musicians during the tumultuous time in 20^th century China, including the Cultural Revolution.

Thien's third novel (she has released a short story collection and a children's book) has garnered numerous prestigious nominations.

Thein, now based in Montreal, was also nominated for the 2016 Man Booker Prize alongside Canadian-born, British-based author David Szalay for All That Man Is.

Today (October 25), American author Paul Beatty was announced as the winner for his novel The Sellout. Beatty is the first American to win the prize in its 48-year history.

Thien's novel also made the shortlist for the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize, which will be announced on November 7.