Douglas Stuart

Douglas Stuart was born on 31 May 1976 in Sighthill, Glasgow, Scotland, the youngest of three siblings. Raised in poverty amid Thatcher-era economic decline, his single mother battled alcoholism and died when he was sixteen. He earned a bachelor's from the Scottish College of Textiles and a master's from London's Royal College of Art. At twenty-four, he moved to New York City, building a twenty-year career in fashion design while secretly writing. His debut novel Shuggie Bain, rejected by dozens of publishers, won the 2020 Booker Prize, becoming a bestseller with over 1.5 million copies sold. Set in 1980s Glasgow, it portrays the relationship between an alcoholic mother and her devoted youngest son in a story drawn from Stuart's own childhood. His second novel Young Mungo (2022) explores toxic masculinity and love in post-industrial Scotland. Stuart holds dual British and American citizenship and lives in Manhattan with his husband.