Shaun Tan was born in 1974 and grew up in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. In school he became known as the “good drawer” which partly compensated for always being the shortest kid in every class. He graduated from the University of WA in 1995 with joint honours in Fine Arts and English Literature, and currently works full time as a freelance artist and author, concentrating mostly on writing and illustrating picture books.
Shaun began drawing and painting images for science fiction and horror stories in small-press magazines as a teenager, and has since then he has received numerous awards for his picture books, including the CBCA Picture Book of the Year Award for The Rabbits with John Marsden, and with Gary Crew, Memorial (a CBCA Honour Book) and The Viewer (winner of the Crichton Award for illustration).
Shaun Tan is the author and illustrator of The Lost Thing and The Red Tree, both of which have won international awards such as an Honourable Mention in the BolognaRagazzi Prize, were CBCA Honour Books and have been widely translated. Shaun’s latest work is The Arrival, a wordless picture book was published in October 2006, and received many awards, including the CBC Picture Book of the Year, The Premier’s Prize in WA, and Book of the Year at the NSW Premier’s Awards.

 In 2001 Shaun received the ‘World Fantasy Best Artist Award’ for his body of work. He has recently worked for Blue Sky Studios and Pixar, providing concept artwork for forthcoming films. Shaun is also currently working on a short animated film adaptation for The Lost Thing.

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