Shuggie Ba: Gay thor Douglas Stuart ws Booker Prize

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY SCOTTISH AUTHOR

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BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM ByleLk-gEnFiw iUEiRd ggMZaT cXqSTL eErqIx byle__name-lk button" href="/ntributors/crsida-leyshon">Crsida Leyshon</a></span></span></p></div><time data-ttid="ContentHearPublishDate" dateTime="2020-01-06T06:00:00-05:00" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ContentHearPublishDate-eIBicG iUEiRd kYZrFA kEBrdf">January 6, 2020</time></div></div></div></div></div></hear></div><div data-attribute-verso-pattern="article-body" class="ArticlePageContentBackGround-cNiFNN kbAoLA article-body__ntent"><div class="ActnBarWrapperContent-lasBkU cAHp"><div class="ActnBarWrapperComponent-cjwxLS bEeSLb"><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="ActnBarWrapper-dhxmQh kNjTbQ viewport-monor-anchor"><button id="bookmark" aria-label="Save this story" class="ActnBarButton-dyFOZU hQrwCF bookmark large-screen"><span class="ActnBarSendaryButtonPrimaryIn-isbvyN cAwccV bookmark-button-in"><svg class="in in-bookmark" width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" 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kGxnNB rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO KhjZz AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset rponsive-image rponsive-image--expandable"><noscript><img alt="Douglas Stuart" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w, 1920w, 2240w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></span></div><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE iTuhkZ ptn AssetEmbedCaptn-fNQBPI fmQnYP asset-embed__ptn"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnCred-ejegDm iUEiRd iicloT jbIJNS ptn__cred">Photograph by Clive Smh</span></div></figure></div><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg"><strong>Your story “<a href=">Found Wantg</a>,” which tak place the early neteen-neti, is about a seventeen-year-old Glaswegian boy who has placed a lonely-hearts ad a magaze. When did you start thkg about wrg a story wh a personal ad at s heart?</strong></p><p class="paywall">The typ of personal ads were my first nnectn wh a gay muny when I was a young man. On the hog scheme where I grew up, there was a real stigma to beg gay; was a hard workg-man’s world, and was unimagable for anyone to nsir themselv out and proud. When I stumbled across the ads, at the age of fifteen or so, was credibly excg— ma me feel ls alone, ls “wrong.” Back then, personal ads and phone chat l were a lifele for young queer people— a way, they were precursors to the datg apps we see now. But pared to how people nnect on the Inter today—and how quickly be about sexual barterg—the personals were such an nocent space. I scribed “Found Wantg” to a young gay iend of me who grew up the late ghts and he uld not even wrap his head around the ia of rrpondg like this.</p><p class="paywall">It tak a lot of effort to wre a letter, let alone make yourself sound not only tertg but sirable. To wre somethg timate to a stranger is a perilo act—’s a ltle ironic bee ’s a b like novel wrg, where you’re sharg the personal thgs and you have no ia how the other person will receive ; both take a lot of fah and hope! In realy, the letter exchange was ually the bt part—when you did fally meet the other boy, he was often not as tertg as he was wrg.</p><div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--article-mid-ntent" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--article-mid-ntent nsumer-marketg-un__slot---ntent"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><p class="paywall"><strong>Your first novel, “<a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Shuggie Ba</a>,” which trac the life of a young boy and his alholic mother Glasgow, out Febary, and I believe this is the first story you’ve published. How long have you been wrg? Did you always know you wanted to publish a novel?</strong></p><p class="paywall">My first wrg missn was at age seven, as a ghostwrer for my mother’s tobgraphy. My father left when I was a boy, and she ed to love to settle down wh a half-dozen ns of lager, and she would dictate as I scribbled away. She never, not even once, got past the ditn: “To Elizabeth Taylor, who thks she do, but knows nothg about the celti of love.” She would have ma a better poet!</p><p class="paywall">I grew up a hoe wh no books, but I’ve been tellg stori for as long as I n remember. From the time I was six years old, everythg about me felt like a fictn; beme a matter of pretendg orr to f . I was always hidg myself om the other kids around me, and, when I was bullied, I would go home and lie to my fay and pretend everythg was fe. I hid the facts of my home life om the outsi world. You jt told yourself stori orr to pe. I wanted to study English lerature at llege but was persuad agast , as “not a thg boys om my background do.” So I traed and had a reer the textil tra and began secretly wrg “Shuggie Ba” about twelve years ago. At the time, I worked primarily as a menswear signer the fashn dtry, so I had to steal all the time I uld to wre—early morngs and every sick day. I was so volved wh my reer that I wrote “Shuggie Ba” only for myself and never dared to image beg published. Wrg wh no prsure was a lucky space to be and a pure pleasure. It’s rare that we get to create somethg that is private and not heavy wh expectatn—I mean, people n’t even have dner now whout feelg pelled to photograph and share wh the world.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-1 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall"><strong>How important was for you to pture Glasgow self your work?</strong></p><p class="paywall">Where we e om always rms the people we bee, no matter if you move far away om home, like I did. I have a plited relatnship wh my home town—but there’s no place I love more. I hope “Shuggie Ba” is a love story to Glasgow, not a fawng love story but one that se the cy clearly. It’s very Sttish to be direct about difficult thgs, so there’s no pot pretendg wasn’t a hard place to live. The cy is a place of ntrasts; all s vastatn and privatn, the people still rema strong and fiercely proud, and I know of no one who is warmer, kr, and more blackly funny then Glaswegians.</p><p class="paywall"><strong>Shuggie, the novel’s protagonist, has a siar bgraphy to the narrator of this story. Are the two characters related your md? Is this a slightly olr Shuggie?</strong></p><p class="paywall">Both piec are rmed by my own experienc and draw om different stag of my life. In “Shuggie Ba,” we leave Shuggie at fifteen, and “Found Wantg” is about what happens when a boy like Shuggie to his sexual matury, so chronologilly I suppose they uld be a match. But Shuggie is a portra, whereas the narrator of “Found Wantg” is a sketch—purposefully so, like the glimpse of a person you get om a lonely-heart letter.</p><p class="paywall"><strong>In the story, an olr man, a solicor, has rpond to the narrator’s ad. When you started workg on the story, did you know how the date would unfold, or did the events take shape as you were wrg?</strong></p><div class="Contaer-bkChBi byNLHx"></div><p class="paywall">I didn’t know how the actual date would unfold, but I knew wouldn’t que be the romantic ial of how somebody los their virgy. I’ve read so many liberal, enlightened, supportive, reciprol queer love stori recent years—and I thk that’s a really posive reflectn of our tim now—but that don’t pture the tth of how go for many of . In the Glasgow of the early neti, everyone lived the closet, and self-searchg sexual experimentatn didn’t always end up as safe or as lovely as should be. When to sex, I feel like no one ever asks a man if he is O.K., if he is happy, if he is enjoyg —’s sort of jt assumed that he is. It was important for that tentativens to be on the page, and I didn’t want the rear to have a sense of where this night was gog, bee the narrator certaly has no clue.</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><asi class="PersistentAsiWrapper-VGrR daRVRt persistent-asi" style="posn:absolute;top:to;height:to" data-ttid="PersistentAsiWrapper"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="bdabb4"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></asi></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="bebe8y"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa bDyAMU body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="paywall"><strong>The Solicor, as the narrator refers to him, is charge of the eveng. How much do you thk your narrator unrstands him over the urse of the eveng? How nflicted is he between the sire to stay and the sire to flee?</strong></p><p class="paywall">Fleeg isn’t really an optn for the narrator—he uld n om the man, but he n’t n om himself. He is seeg more of himself and the world than he has seen all the time leadg up to this moment, and ’s excg as much as ’s unsettlg. The narrator never really unrstands the Solicor, but that’s driven maly by class rather than sexualy. The Solicor is entirely posssn of himself (and perhaps even several other boys). Most of the thgs the narrator is puzzled by are the small trappgs of the man’s life and the ease wh which he glis through the world. It’s the difference social class that creat the real power imbalance, as much as their difference age. The narrator is unsure of his own worth so that he, and the rear, are left wonrg what the man’s plan is for him. It adds to the sense of nfn when the Solicor forc the narrator to perate him. This boy would never picture himself any kd of domant posn, even sexually.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-2 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall"><strong>The Solicor tak him to an apartment on a hog tate where a group of young men and women are watchg televisn. They’re kids who’ve turned to prostutn, appears, but this is a night when they’re relaxg together. Is there any danger that the narrator uld fall to this kd of life? How aware is he of the le that might divi his future om theirs?</strong></p><p class="paywall">There are untls dangers that might befall the narrator—not necsarily jt prostutn. The Glasgow I grew up was rife wh drk, dgs, and gang vlence. Margaret Thatcher and her remote Tory ernment closed all the heavy dtry the cy wh a generatn; ships, steel, al—all gone. This had a terrible knock-on effect on all employment, and workg fai had nowhere to turn; fathers and sons were all put out of work, wh no hope, and hered some of the worst addictn and health cris wtern Europe, some of which the cy is still stgglg wh today.</p><p class="paywall">I was raised amongst men and women who were pable of the most extraordary personal sacrific orr to manage and put food on the table. When you are that suatn, you have to jt sort of get on wh . The story tak plac a time when there was hardly any work for anyone, and so, if you were queer <em>and</em> poor on top of that, you uld easily slip through the cracks of society. But I love the young men and women this story. I love that they are cltered together as a fay. I wanted this to be what the narrator saw, the muny and closens; wasn’t necsarily about the prostutn—that was jt how the Solicor to know them.</p><p class="paywall">It has to be said that, spe the dangers that lie ahead of the narrator, there is hope his pursu of tn. Stland is an credible untry bee the Sttish people, through their ernment, provi accs to the ft higher tn to every cizen, regardls of social class or abily to pay—or at least they did when I was a young man.</p><p class="paywall"><strong>After they leave the hog tate, the Solicor tak the narrator back to his hoe, and they sleep together. It’s the narrator’s first experience of sex—he’d imaged would be like somethg out of “Dynasty,” but ’s very different. Two s later, ’s hard to image a seventeen-year-old beg as nocent. What is like to return to that era the story?</strong></p><p class="paywall">I don’t thk of the narrator as nocent as much as I thk of him as isolated. When I talk to my younger gay iends, they are crlo at the narrator’s naïveté, but I thk we have fotten what ’s like to live whout rmatn and muny always at our fgertips. There was no virtual world the early neti; you were forced to nont the physil world and rencile wh your fantasy world. Porn is so pervasive now, and, for good or bad, you n fd anythg and anyone on the Inter. The Inter is probably a great way for young queer people to nnect and to learn about themselv, but ’s somethg my generatn didn’t have.</p><p class="paywall">When I was seventeen, I had all the puzzle piec and no way of ftg them all together. It was the same for young straight kids, but at least they had parents to (hopefully) gui them and peer groups to support them. Beg gay and g of age at that time meant everythg was about fillg the blanks. The ltle that I knew about gay sex felt llaged om random sourc. I gleaned tidbs om here and there, and the gaps uld be terrifyg, but they uld also be hilar. You sort of had to go alone—armed wh only a Jean Ge novel and a uple of pag torn om your mother’s unrwear talogue—and fumble toward enlightenment.</p><p class="paywall">I wanted to nvey how excg but also terrifyg uld feel to have gay sex for the first time, pecially if was wh someone like the Solicor, who was only terted gettg what he wanted om the suatn. No doubt that would have been a totally different story if the narrator would have replied to Gregor, the crofter’s son, first, and they uld have stumbled onward together. Maybe I’ll wre about that one day when I’m feelg optimistic.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-3 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall"><strong>At the end of “Found Wantg,” the narrator’s back at school, hidg out om everyone the art partment. In many ways, the events of the past twelve hours uld have stroyed any dreams of romance that he might have had—yet the story tak a surprisgly optimistic turn at the end. Why did you want to do this?</strong></p><p class="paywall">The narrator is profoundly lonely, so he’s searchg for kdred souls, for a wee b of love. It’s the most basic of sir—to fd your own people. I know om experience that the only thg you n do to beat this type of lonels is to be hopeful and keep reachg out, keep makg an effort. He has to keep gog—what else n he do? He’s gay, that nnot be changed, so he has to ph on; he has to keep tryg to fd nnectn and do this searchg alone (hopefully for jt a ltle while longer).</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="9v2el8"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 PaywallInleBarrierWhWrapperGrid-fyrGfS kLQIUk grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="body body__le-barrier article__body"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"><asi class="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper-iBnuqk lfXXa-D" data-ttid="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper"><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--paywall-le-barrier" role="prentatn" aria-live="pole" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--paywall-le-barrier"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></asi></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ContentWrapperGrid-fvkmBv brYtrA grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="body body__ntaer"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"></div></div></div></div></div></div></article><div class="ContentFooterWrapper-jVNdRG dTJkpP ArticlePageContentFooterGrid-ccsXYy eMZRHU article-body__footer"><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="ContributorsWrapper-eNpWFu GWFsc ntributors" data-ttid="Contributors"><div class="ContributorBWrapper-bnVHbt gMon"><div class="ContributorBContent-ubQdr jZTSSi"><div class="ContributorBHear-ledood XOIEx"></div><div class="ContributorBB-fBolsO giFhKz"><a href="/ntributors/crsida-leyshon">Crsida Leyshon</a> is The New Yorker’s puty fictn edor.</div><div class="ContributorBFooter-brqDlv ezUmSv"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 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class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Vio</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cZPaWG summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-1" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div class="SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ iIjKeM summary-em__hed" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">A Profsnal Skateboarr Com Out</div></a><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb USLvL summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-1" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR 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class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl bcywvc summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX kImuKS bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN fYiFyD summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Fictn</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cZPaWG summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-2" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href="/magaze/2020/01/13/found-wantg" target="_self"><div class="SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ iIjKeM summary-em__hed" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">Found Wantg</div></a><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi cuRXdL summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY cgDBtc summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH dSEWiO byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" 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