Author Talk: Douglas Stuart discusses "John of John"

About the Book:

“Douglas Stuart brilliantly weaved a layered, compelling and yet so intimate a story of identity, what it means to belong, and the courage to claim your own truth.”—Oprah Winfrey “One of 2026's literary triumphs.”—Boston Globe From the Booker Prize-winning and New York Times bestselling author of “Shuggie Bain” and “Young Mungo” comes a vivid, moving novel following a young man returning to his Hebridean island home, a portrait of a father’s expectations and a son’s desires.

Out of money and with little to show for his art school education, John-Calum Macleod takes the ferry back home to the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides to find that little has changed except for him. He returns to the windswept croft and the two pillars of his childhood: his father John, a sheep farmer, tweed weaver, and lay preacher in the local Presbyterian church, and his maternal grandmother Ella, a profanity-loving Glaswegian whose steady warmth helped Cal weather the sudden departure of his mother.

Cal privately wonders if any lonely men might be found on the barren hillsides of home, while John is dismayed by his son’s long hair, strange clothes, and seeming unwillingness to be Saved. But Cal isn't the only one in the croft house who is keeping secrets. As lambing season turns to shearing season, the threads holding together the community together become increasingly frayed, and nothing will remain as it was before. “John of John” is a singular novel about duty, passion, and the transformative power of the truth. It is a magnificent literary work that cements Douglas Stuart's reputation as one of our greatest novelists working today.

About the Speakers:

Douglas Stuart is a Scottish-American author. His New York Times bestselling debut novel “Shuggie Bain” won prizes including the 2020 Booker Prize and the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, was a finalist for the National Book Award and the PEN/Hemingway Award, and was named one of the "25 Best Books of the 21st Century" by the Sunday Times (UK). His second novel, “Young Mungo,” was a national bestseller, longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal and a finalist for the British Book Award, and one of the most highly acclaimed books of the year. His stories are published in The New Yorker and his essays have featured on Literary Hub. He lives in New York City.

Dean Spade has been working to build queer and trans liberation based in racial and economic justice for the past two decades. He is a professor at the Seattle University School of Law. He is the author of "Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics and the Limits of Law". In 2015, Dean released a one-hour video documentary, "Pinkwashing Exposed: Seattle Fights Back!". Dean’s book, "Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the next)", was published by Verso Press in October 2020. Dean’s new book is "Love in a Fucked Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up, and Raise Hell, Together".

Thanks to our partner Elliott Bay Book Company.

Thanks to our sponsors  The Seattle Public Library Foundation  and  The Gary and Connie Kunis Foundation.

Thanks to media sponsor  The Seattle Times.

Free and reduced access supported by  4Culture.

Registration is required. Register  here.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

View in catalog: " John of John " by Douglas Stuart.