Oak Award winner Douglas Stuart (Douglas Stuart) revealed his difficult growth experience in the United States Glasgow When he was interviewed in Scotland, how did this affect his next novel First minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Stewart, who won multiple awards for her debut Shuggie Bain, talked to Ms. Sturgeon in front of the audience at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
After testing negative for Covid-19, the First Minister was able to participate in an event held at Edinburgh College of Art.
After being identified as a close contact with the virus, she has been in self-isolation.
Stuart discussed the influence behind Shuggie Bain before reading his next book, Young Mungo, which will be published in April next year.
He said that this new book was written before he was placed on the long list Booker Prize And “from a personal place.”
He said: “This is a story about two young men. Writing Shuggie asked me a question. It asked me about Shuji’s sexual orientation. It asked me what we did to young men and working-class men. Their expectations, how we hurt them, just like we did.
“And I can’t answer this question in this book… so I want to leave to see two teenage boys who grew up in the United States in 1991. East District Glasgow, this is one of the poorest neighborhoods, just like where I grew up, thinking about masculinity in this way.
“So these two boys were divided by territorial gangs and conspiracy gangs, but they fell in love across the chasm.
“The book is divided into two separate parts, where we saw the blooming of Glasgow and their love, but then the protagonist was sent to the north of Scotland, he didn’t know where to make him a man.
“This is a trip that has disastrous consequences for all the people involved.”
Stewart talked about his background and struggles growing up with alcoholic mothers, and the impact of this on his work.
Ms. Sturgeon said that addiction is “essentially” about shame, “people feel they can’t come forward and ask for the help they need.”
“We have a lot to do in Scotland because I believe that in many countries, we can all help people with addiction,” she said, adding that Shuggie Bain helped humanize this problem.
Stewart’s mother died when he was 16, and he said from initial memory that she struggled with alcoholism.
The author now lives New York And when he appeared at his first live British event in history, he said that he always felt “very lonely” trying to cope.
He said that when women suffer, we “are often more difficult to blame than men” and that women’s addiction is less obvious.
When Ms. Sturgeon asked his mother what he thought of the book, he said: “I think she will be very proud…she will buy a large number of copies, and has been planning to go up and down and distribute them.”
He said that this book is not an autobiography, but he borrowed from the process of growing up “queer in an incredibly masculine place.”
He said he was rejected by the children around him, but he was afraid to tell his family.
“I’m very scared, if I say to my mother or my brother, you know,’This is what they are doing’, they will say,’Oh, you are like that?'” he said.
Stewart told Ms. Sturgeon that he would go home and live in Scotland soon.
“I think Shuggie is a way to let myself go home first and reconnect with the city. I am very, very excited,” he said.
