Scottish writer Douglas Stuart recently won the 2020 Booker Prize for his debut novel Shuggie Bain. Before its success, the book was rejected more than 30 times by various publishers. Set in 1980s Glasgow, it's a gritty story of a son's troubled relationship with his alcoholic mother, and is loosely based on Stuart's own experiences growing up in the city. Based in New York City for the past 20 years, where he designed knitwear for some of the biggest names in fashion, Stuart has now given up his day job to focus on his writing full time. And he's not resting on his laurels: after having several short stories published in The New Yorker, Stuart has already finished a second novel (titled Loch Awe) and is hard at work on a third, about the demise of the textile industry.