Douglas Stuart wins 2020 Booker Prize

Douglas Stuart has won the 2020 Booker Prize for his debut book ‘Shuggie Bain’, an autobiographical novel about the lonely son of an alcoholic mother in 1960s Scotland.

Stuart (Scotland/USA) emerged winner in a shortlist that included Diane Cook (USA) for her book ‘The New Wilderness’, Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe) for ‘This Mournable Body’, Avni Doshi (USA) for ’Burnt Sugar’, Maaza Mengiste (Ethiopia/USA) for ‘The Shadow King’, and Brandon Taylor (USA) for ‘Real Life’.

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This year’s chair of judges, Margaret Busby, said of the novel, “It’s challenging, it’s intimate, it’s gripping, it’s daring,” she said. “To some extent, I think anybody who reads it will never feel the same.”

In his speech, Stuart thanked his mother and said “she is in every page of this book.

The winner was announced in a virtual conference. This year’s panel of judges included Lee Child, author; Sameer Rahim, author and critic; Lemn Sissay, writer and broadcaster; and Emily Wilson, classicist and translator.