Hey everybody, Jeff Bennett here. Welcome to another episode of Settle In from PBS News.

Our guest today is Douglas Stewart. He's the renowned author behind the 2020 Booker Prize-winning novel Shuggy Bain,

which tells the story of a young boy in 1980s working class Glasgow, caring for his alcoholic mother.

His latest book is called John of John. It follows a young man as he returns to his home

in the islands off the Scottish mainland, navigating relationships with his family, his religion,

and his sexuality. I spoke with Stewart about his new book, how he started writing, and how

his own life is reflected in his work. So, settle in and enjoy our conversation with Douglas Stewart.

Douglas Stewart, it's great to see you. Thanks for being here. Thank you for having me.

So much of your work is inspired by your early years. Tell me about growing up in Scotland.

How did that shape you? Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm a Scotsman. I grew up in Glasgow in the 1970s and 1980s, although I've

been an American. I've lived in America since about 2000. But I grew up in Glasgow, which is the

large city, a really tumultuous time in the city's history. As you know, Britain de-industrialized

really rapidly under the Thatcher government, and unemployment in the city went to about 20%, which affected my grandfather, my father, all my siblings,

you know, they closed shipbuilding and steel and coal mining.

And so it was a time of real hardship in the city, and that was really the backdrop of my youth.

On top of that, I was raised by a single mother because my father eventually abandoned us.

And my mother, I think, because of some things that were going, she was a wonderful woman,

but because of some things that were going on in her personal life and also how she felt about sort of hope and the city,

she had a problem with alcoholism, which

eventually killed her when I was about 16. And so I found myself without parents at age 16. And I think

in many ways, a lot of my writing, although I've been in America all these years, is about trying

to go back to the past and to sort of reclaim it for myself. To also add voices to the landscape that

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