Douglas Stuart (SCT)

Douglas Stuart debuted in 2020 with the novel Shuggie Bain, a moving story about a boy’s upbringing in Glasgow’s working class with an alcoholic mother and a dream of dancing. In 2022 he followed up with Young Mungo which also revolves around class, gender, and sexuality in Scotland.

Stuart draws on his own experiences and his journey from an upbringing in poverty to a life in New York, where he made a career in the fashion industry. His writings are characterised by a sharp social awareness and an ability to portray the working class’s living conditions with both pain and tenderness. His short prose, for example, “Found Wanting” and “The Englishman”, have been published in The New Yorker.

He received the prestigious Booker Prize in 2020 for his debut novel Shuggie Bain and has also been the recipient of several other literary awards, as well as an honorary doctorate from Heriot-Watt University.