Banu Mushtaq, a 77-year-old writer, lawyer, and activist from Karnataka, India, has made literary history by winning the 2025 International Booker Prize for her short story collection Heart Lamp. This is the first time a book written in Kannada—a major language spoken in southern India—has received this prestigious international honor, and the first time the award has gone to a collection of short stories. The prize was announced at a ceremony at London’s Tate Modern, where Mushtaq and her translator, Deepa Bhasthi, received the award together. 

With this achievement, Mushtaq becomes the first Indian author writing in Kannada and only the second Indian overall to win the International Booker Prize since its inception in its current form in 2016.  The recognition places her alongside literary giants like V.S. Naipaul, Salman Rushdie, and Arundhati Roy. 

Stories of Women’s Lives and Struggles

Heart Lamp is a collection of twelve short stories written over three decades, from 1990 to 2023.  The stories shine a light on the everyday struggles and resilience of Muslim women living in patriarchal communities in southern India.  Drawing inspiration from real encounters with women seeking help, Mushtaq’s writing explores themes of gender, caste, class, and religious conservatism. 

The stories depict a range of experiences: a young girl forced into marriage, a woman whose son arranges a new union for her, and an older woman enduring the humiliation of her husband taking another wife.  Through these narratives, Mushtaq captures the emotional depth, strength, and quiet resistance of women facing social, emotional, and psychological challenges. 

According to the chair of judges, Max Porter, Heart Lamp is “something genuinely new for English readers: a radical translation of beautiful, busy, life-affirming stories”.  The translation by Deepa Bhasthi was praised for preserving the multilingual richness of the original Kannada, Urdu, and Arabic expressions, adding to the authenticity of the storytelling. 

A Win for Translation and Representation

Mushtaq’s victory is also a milestone for translation. Deepa Bhasthi, who translated Heart Lamp into English, became the first Indian translator to win the International Booker Prize. The prize money of £50,000 is shared equally between Mushtaq and Bhasthi, highlighting the vital role of translation in bringing regional voices to a global audience. In her acceptance speech, Mushtaq dedicated the win to the women whose stories she told, saying, “This is not just my victory, but a chorus of voices often left unheard”. The recognition of Heart Lamp not only celebrates the power of storytelling but also brings attention to the lived experiences of women on the margins of society, making this a landmark moment for Indian literature and the global literary community.