Glaswegian author Douglas Stuart is “really excited” to meet Dundonian fans at an event taking place in the city tomorrow.
The Book Prize winner, who won critical acclaim for his semi-autobiographical novel Shuggie Bain in 2020, will visit Dundee’s Central Library as part of his paperback release tour for his second novel, Young Mungo.
The event, hosted by Waterstones, will mark his first visit to Dundee since the New York-based author rocketed to fame during the pandemic.
Stuart left his native Glasgow as a young textile designer, and went on to have a high-flying career on the New York fashion scene, working for big name brands such as Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein.
But during his commute for 10-hour work days, he wrote snatches of the novel that was to become Shuggie Bain, the story of a working class single mother suffering from addiction in the east end of Glasgow, and her six-year-old son.
It is largely inspired by Stuart’s own mother, who he lost to addiction when he was just 16.
And so bringing the book home to his native Scotland has been an emotional pilgrimage as much as a geographical one.
“Living in New York gave me a little bit of distance, to be able to clarify my thoughts and see things with a little bit of perspective, but it also made me feel incredibly homesick,” reveals the 46-year-old author.
” And so bringing the books home… it’s like the only place in the world where I can talk about my work and I don’t have to explain the work, if you know what I mean?
“It’s really great to win the Booker, but what’s maybe the bigger win for me is how Shuggie and Mungo have been brought home,” he adds.
Young Mungo was ‘wish fulfilment’
Stuart’s second novel, Young Mungo, tells the story of a star-crossed romance between two teenage boys – one Catholic, one Protestant – whose eyes meet across the scheme from their respective tenement windows.
But this too is set in 1980s Glasgow, and as Mungo and James fall in love, they must keep their connection a secret, as to be found out would lead to certain violence.
Where the first book was autobiographical, this one, he admits, was “wish fulfilment”.
“That was something I just didn’t have as a young gay man growing up, that first sort of teenage romance,” reveals Stuart.
“Of course there were queer people living around me, probably in the next tenement. But you couldn’t be visible or known to each other in any way, because it was dangerous.”
Now happily married and financially stable, that life of concealment, poverty and scrambling for survival is firmly in the past for Stuart.
But he knows from the response to his novels that for many of his readers, the stories in his books remain relatable.
“I have to say, it’s both good and bad, because so many people relate to the stories and characters in my work.
“One of the things that always strikes me is how many people are going through a tough time themselves, and so find a comfort in my work but also a solidarity.
“And that can be quite heartbreaking.”
Douglas Stuart will be in conversation at The Steps Theatre, Dundee Central Library, on Thursday April 20 at 6.30pm. For more information or to book tickets, see the Waterstones website.
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