If you follow us on social media you may have seen that we have announced our first author for IBF26 – and we can’t lie, we are incredibly excited about this one!
Douglas Stuart
Born and raised in Glasgow, after graduating from the Royal College of Art, Douglas moved to New York to begin a career in fashion design.
Shuggie Bain, Stuart’s first novel, won the Booker Prize and both Debut of the Year and Book of the Year at the British Book Awards. It was also shortlisted for the National Book Award, and in 2025 was selected by The Sunday Times as one of the ‘best novels of the twenty-first century’ as well as one of the ten best Booker winners of all time by the Daily Telegraph.
His second novel, Young Mungo, was a number one Sunday Times bestseller. His short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, and ‘Love, Hope & Grit’, the Imagine documentary Douglas made with the late Alan Yentob, is available on the BBC iPlayer. John of John, his latest novel, will be published by Picador on 21st May 2026.
Keep your eye out for our full lineup announcement in the coming weeks, as well as information regarding tickets and events.