Scottish writer Douglas Stuart’s ‘Shuggie Bain’ wins 2020 Booker Prize

TIL Desk/World/Beijing/ New York-based Scottish writer Douglas Stuart has won the 2020 Booker Prize for his debut novel ‘Shuggie Bain’, a coming of age story set in Glasgow, beating Indian-origin author Avni Doshi. “I cannot believe this. Shuggie is a work of fiction but writing the book was extremely healing for me; hugely cathartic,” Stuart said.

Stuart (44) dedicated the book to his mother, who died of alcoholism when he was 16-years-old. After graduating from the Royal College of Art in London, he moved to New York to start a career in fashion design. He has worked for various brands, including Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Gap. He started writing in his spare time a decade ago.

Dubai-based Indian-origin writer Avni Doshi, who was shortlisted among the final six authors for her debut novel ‘Burnt Sugar’, lost out on the top prize. She was in the running for this year’s prize alongside Zimbabwean writer Tsitsi Dangarembga for the third novel in her trilogy ‘This Mournable Body’ on a shortlist otherwise dominated by US authors – Diane Cook for ‘The New Wilderness’, Maaza Mengiste for ‘The Shadow King’ and Brandon Taylor for ‘Real Life’.