Scottish author Douglas Stuart wins UK’s Booker Prize

Scottish writer Douglas Stuart has won the Booker Prize for fiction with Shuggie Bain, the story of a boy’s turbulent coming of age in hardscrabble 1980s Glasgow.

Stuart won the prestigious 50,000 pounds ($66,000) award on Thursday for his first published novel.

He was the only British author on a US-dominated list of six finalists for the prize, open to English-language novels from around the world.

Margaret Busby, who chaired the judging panel, said Shuggie Bain was destined to be a classic.

She called it intimate and gripping, challenging but hopeful in its exploration of young Shuggie’s complex but loving relationship between mother and son.

The winner was announced at a live-streamed ceremony in London that included remote appearances by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and former US President Barack Obama.

A ‘love story’

Stuart’s book reflects his own experiences growing up with a mother who was an alcoholic and died from her addiction.

He described the book as a “love story” looking at the kind of “unconditional, often-tested love” that children can have for flawed parents.

In an emotional speech, the 44-year-old, who now lives in New York, said, “My mother would be thrilled, she would be absolutely thrilled and I think she would be proud.”

He said that he had carried “a lot of love and pain” and writing the book was “incredibly healing for me”.

He also paid tribute to his native city, saying that “growing up in Glasgow I think is one of the greatest inspirations of my life.”

Before the announcement, British bookmakers had backed Stuart to claim the prize for the best work of English-language fiction published in the UK and Ireland.

He was chosen as the winner from the most diverse shortlist in the prize’s five-decade history.

The finalists included American Avni Doshi’s first novel Burnt Sugar alongside fellow US debutants Diane Cook (The New Wilderness) and Brandon Taylor (Real Life).

Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga (This Mournable Body) and Ethiopian American Maaza Mengiste (The Shadow King) were the only established authors on the list.

The list was whittled down by a panel of five judges from a US-dominated long list of 13 finalists, which had included veteran Hilary Mantel.

The Booker has launched careers and courted controversy since its creation in 1969.

Judges last year tore up the rule book by awarding it jointly to Canadian author Margaret Atwood and Anglo-Nigerian author Bernardine Evaristo.

Evaristo said at Thursday’s ceremony that winning the prize was a “magical moment” and “I feel like I was launched out into the world as an author.”

Past laureates have included celebrated writers from Ian McEwan and Julian Barnes to Kazuo Ishiguro and Roddy Doyle.

Paul Beatty became the first American winner when the Booker bowed to pressure and began including authors from outside the Commonwealth, Ireland and Zimbabwe in 2013.