An Afternoon with Douglas Stuart

Berwick Literary Festival is proud to welcome Douglas Stuart, Booker Prize–winning author of Shuggie Bain and one of the most celebrated novelists writing today.

Born and raised in Glasgow, Stuart’s debut novel Shuggie Bain became a global literary phenomenon, winning the 2020 Booker Prize, the British Book Awards’ Book of the Year, and being shortlisted for the US National Book Award. His second novel, Young Mungo, was a Sunday Times number-one bestseller and cemented his reputation as a writer of extraordinary emotional power. His work is widely praised for its vivid characters and compassionate exploration of class, masculinity, faith and belonging.

He joins us in Berwick to discuss his remarkable new novel, John of John, set on the Isle of Harris. The story follows John-Calum Macleod, who returns home after his life on the mainland falters. Back among the crofts and tight-knit island community of his childhood, Cal must navigate the complex bonds of family, the expectations of faith and tradition, and the quiet struggle to live truthfully in a place where difference is difficult to voice.

Douglas will be in conversation with Dr Karen Aitchison, a Berwick-based academic who spent most of her career in Psychology and Academic Practice. A long-time supporter of the Festival, Karen spends time each summer on the islands off Scotland’s west coast, giving her a particular affinity with the Hebridean setting of Stuart’s new novel.

Books will be available on the day, with thanks to The Book Loft, and Douglas Stuart will be signing after the event.

EVENT TIMINGS

11:30am - The Straw Yard bar opens for pre-talk drinks.

12:30pm - Doors open at Holy Trinity Church.

1:00pm - Event starts.

2:00pm - Event ends.

3:30pm - Last orders at The Straw Yard bar.