Poets & Writers Theater

In this Oprah’s Book Club event, Douglas Stuart talks about his novel John of John (Grove Press, 2026), which he wrote over the course of six years after spending weeks researching the Outer Hebrides Isles on the coast of Scotland and interviewing their locals. For more from Stuart, read his installment of our Ten Questions series.

“She’s seen by those around her as being too much, but in fact, it’s not that she is too much, it’s that the world around her isn’t enough.” In this video for Perthshire Pride, Douglas Stuart introduces the characters from his debut novel, Shuggie Bain (Grove Press, 2020), for which he won the 2020 Booker Prize, and reads a short excerpt.

“As a writer, the idea of readers coming to your work is what it’s all about,” says Brandon Taylor, whose debut novel, Real Life, is shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize. In this watch party video announcing the six finalists for the prize, literary director of the Booker Prize Foundation Gaby Wood introduces the 2020 judges and the nominated authors offer their reactions.