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The Booker Prize 2020

Winner
Shortlist
Longlist

The pandemic prize, livestreamed in lieu of having the literary world in attendance, was a rags to rag-trade to riches story when the erstwhile fashion designer Douglas Stuart won

Stuart’s Shuggie Bain is a Mcbildungsroman set in working-class Glasgow in the febrile 1980s and the character of Shuggie reflected something of the author’s own difficult childhood. The novel was a serial rejectee, being turned down by some 30 publishers before being picked up by Picador.

Stuart, who had a career in fashion in New York, cited the only other Scottish winner as an inspiration; reading James Kelman, he said, was one of the first times he ‘had seen his people and dialect on the page’.  
 

Watch videos

The Booker Prize 2020 - Full Ceremony | The Booker Prize

Watch the 2020 Booker Prize ceremony, in which Douglas Stuart wins the prize with his book, Shuggie Bain.

Nina Sosanya reads Maaza Mengiste's The Shadow King

Actor Nina Sosanya performs a reading from 2020 Booker Prize shortlisted author Maaza Mengiste’s book, The Shadow King, streamed during The Booker Prize 2020 winner ceremony. 

Roxane Gay on Diane Cook's The New Wilderness

Watch fan and author Roxane Gay discuss 2020 Booker Prize shortlisted author Diane Cook’s book, The New Wilderness.

Colm Tóibín on Brandon Taylor's Real Life

Watch fan and writer Colm Tóibín share his thoughts on 2020 Booker Prize shortlisted author Brandon Taylor’s book, Real Life.

Annie Mac on Avni Doshi's Burnt Sugar

Watch fan, DJ, broadcaster and writer Annie Mac discuss 2020 Booker Prize shortlisted author Avni Doshi’s book, Burnt Sugar.

Sara Collins on Tsitsi Dangarembga's This Mournable Body

Watch fan and author Sara Collins discuss 2020 Booker Prize shortlisted author Tsitsi Dangarembga’s book, This Mournable Body.

Alan Cumming on Douglas Stuart's Shuggie Bain

Watch fan, actor and producer Alan Cumming discuss author Douglas Stuart’s book Shuggie Bain, which would go on to win the 2020 Booker Prize.

Paapa Essiedu reads Brandon Taylor's Real Life

Actor Paapa Essiedu performs a reading from Brandon Taylor’s book, Real Life, streamed during The Booker Prize 2020 winner ceremony.

Thandiwe Newton reads Tsitsi Dangarembga's This Mournable Body

Thandiwe Newton reads from Tsitsi Dangarembga’s This Mournable Body, streamed during The Booker Prize 2020 winner ceremony.

Ayesha Dharker reads Avni Doshi's Burnt Sugar

Actor Ayesha Dharker performs a reading from #2020BookerPrize shortlisted author Avni Doshi’s book, Burnt Sugar, streamed during The Booker Prize 2020 winner ceremony. 

Shuggie Bain
Shuggie Bain

Shuggie Bain

Winner of The Booker Prize 2020

Published by
Picador
Douglas Stuart’s blistering and heartbreaking debut is an exploration of the unsinkable love that only children can have for their damaged parents

The shortlist

The New Wilderness
Diane Cook’s extraordinary novel is both a blazing lament for our contempt of nature and a deeply humane portrayal of motherhood
This Mournable Body
Tsitsi Dangarembga’s searing novel about the obstacles faced by the women of Zimbabwe asks one question: where do lives go when all hope has departed?
Burnt Sugar
Sharp as a blade and laced with Avni Doshi’s caustic wit, this a story about love and betrayal. Not between lovers - between mother and daughter
The Shadow King
Maaza Mengiste salutes the soldiers written out of history in her captivating exploration of female power, and what it means to be a woman at war
Shuggie Bain
Prize winner
Douglas Stuart’s blistering and heartbreaking debut is an exploration of the unsinkable love that only children can have for their damaged parents
Real Life
Brandon Taylor’s deeply affecting story about the emotional cost of reckoning with desire and overcoming pain, which deftly zooms in and out of focus

The longlist

The 2020 judges

The 2020 prize in pictures

Booker Prize Awards 2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, shortlisted authors (top L-R) Douglas Stuart, Diane Cook, Avni Doshi, (bottom L-R) Brandon Taylor, Maaza Mengiste and Tsitsi Dangarembga speak on screen at the 2020 Booker Prize Awards Ceremony, broadcast in partnership with the BBC, at the Roundhouse in London, November 19, 2020.

© David Parry/PA Wire

Bernardine Evaristo at the 2020 Booker Prize Awards

John Wilson speaks to Bernardine Evaristo at the 2020 Booker Prize Awards Ceremony, broadcast in partnership with the BBC, at the Roundhouse in London

© David Parry/PA Wire

Margaret Busby speaks with John Wilson at the 2020 Booker Prize Awards

Margaret Busby speaks with John Wilson at The 2020 Booker Prize Awards Ceremony, broadcast in partnership with the BBC, at the Roundhouse in London

© David Parry/PA Wire

Margaret Atwood, 2020 Booker Prize ceremony

Margaret Atwood speaks on screen at the 2020 Booker Prize Awards Ceremony, broadcast in partnership with the BBC, at the Roundhouse in London.

© David Parry/PA Wire

Barack Obama speaks on screen at the 2020 Booker Prize Awards Ceremony

Barack Obama speaks on screen at the 2020 Booker Prize Awards Ceremony, broadcast in partnership with the BBC, at the Roundhouse in London

© David Parry/PA Wire

The Duchess of Cornwall speaks at The 2020 Booker Prize Awards

The Duchess of Cornwall speaks at The 2020 Booker Prize Awards Ceremony, broadcast in partnership with the BBC, at the Roundhouse in London.

© David Parry/PA Wire

Kazuo Ishiguro 2020

Kazuo Ishiguro speaks at the 2020 Booker Prize Awards Ceremony, broadcast in partnership with the BBC, at the Roundhouse in London.

© David Parry/PA Wire

Douglas Stuart, 2020

Douglas Stuart speaks at The 2020 Booker Prize Awards Ceremony, broadcast in partnership with the BBC, at the Roundhouse in London

© David Parry/PA Wire

Winning Booker Prize title Shuggie Bain 2020

Winning title Shuggie Bain, the Booker Prize 2020

© David Parry/PA Wire