At 1455 we were early on the Douglas Stuart bandwagon. We featured him in our Story Fest (video or it didn’t happen), had him as part of our Author Series (this discussion, from late 2020, remains a personal favorite!), and I had the added pleasure of chatting with him for our 14:55 Interview (check it out and a humble brag: this was after I’d read Shuggie Bain but before it won all those awards!)
He has gone on to conquer the literary world, and we have loved watching him become one of the world’s beloved authors. He has a brand new novel, John of John, that is both an instant bestseller and Oprah Book Club pick! Way to go, Douglas!
Part throwback, part celebration, we wanted to feature some highlights from the aforementioned 14:55 Interview. Some excerpts, below, and stay tuned for Part 2 and the entire conversation!
About Douglas Stuart
Douglas Stuart is a NY Times bestselling author whose work has been translated in to over forty languages.
His debut novel, Shuggie Bain, won the 2020 Booker Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Award. It was named both the Overall Book of the Year, and Debut of the Year at the British Book Awards, and was selected by the Sunday Times as one of ‘the 25 best novels of the 21st century’.
His next novel, Young Mungo, was a Sunday Times #1 bestseller and a finalist for the Carnegie Medal.
His latest novel John of John will publish in May 2026.
His essays on gender, class and conformity have feature on Lit Hub and his short stories are published in The New Yorker.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, he has an MA from the Royal College of Art in London and Honorary Doctorates from the University of Glasgow and Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh. In a previous life he was a designer for Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Kate Spade, and The Gap. Since 2000, he has lived and worked in New York City, although he spends as much time in Glasgow as he can.