Which author won the 2020 Booker Prize for 'Shuggie Bain'?

Douglas Stuart won the 2020 Booker Prize for his novel Shuggie Bain.

Shuggie Bain is Stuart’s debut novel and is set mainly in post-industrial Glasgow during the 1980s and early 1990s. It follows Shuggie, the youngest of three children, as he grows up with Agnes, his mother whose alcoholism shapes the family’s precarious life. The book combines social realism with a deeply intimate coming-of-age story.

The prize was announced on 19 November 2020. Stuart became the second Scottish author to win the Booker, following James Kelman, who won in 1994 for How Late It Was, How Late. His victory was especially notable because Shuggie Bain was a debut novel and because the 2020 ceremony was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, with participants appearing virtually.

Readers sometimes confuse the winning author with other shortlisted writers, including Avni Doshi, Colum McCann and Brandon Taylor. Stuart’s novel was also written in English with dialogue influenced by Scots, giving its Glasgow setting a distinctive linguistic texture.