Indian writer, lawyer and activist Banu Mushtaq has won the International Booker Prize for her short story collection “Heart Lamp” on Tuesday, May 20. Translated to English by Deepa Bhasthi, it was the first Kannada-language work nominated for this coveted literature prize. A collection of 12 short stories written between 1990 and 2023, the book traces themes of family, society, and life in Southern India's Muslim and Dalit communities.
"Written in a style at once witty, vivid, colloquial, moving and excoriating, it’s in her characters that Mushtaq emerges as an astonishing writer and observer of human nature," the International Booker Prize committee described on the website.
“This moment feels like a thousand fireflies lighting a single sky -- brief, brilliant and utterly collective. I accept this great honour not as an individuals but as a voice raised in chorus with so many others,” AFP quoted Mushtaq as saying at a ceremony at the Tate Modern gallery in London.
Who Is Banu Mushtaq?
Banu Mushtaq is a revered writer, lawyer, journalist, and activist. Born in 1948 in Hassan, she completed her formative education at a Kannada-language missionary school in Shivamogga. While most girls in her community were married off at a young age, Mushtaq defied expectations, pursuing higher education and marrying for love at age 26.
Mushtaq began her career as a journalist for the reputed Kannada newspaper, Lankesh Patrike, covering stories about women's rights, caste, and religion. She became a writer at age 29, when she started penning her journey with postpartum depression and opened a dialogue about a topic that was often dismissed or ignored in Indian society.
Mushtaq has won many awards for her writing, including the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award in 1999 and the Daana Chintamani Attimabbe Award. She earned the 2024 PEN English Translate Award for Deepa Bhasthi's translation of Haseena and Other Stories. Her recent book, Heart Lamp, is among six books shortlisted for the International Booker Prize.
Speaking to Vogue India, she said, “My family often told my father that I would get our nose cut. Now I hope, even though he is no more, I brought glory instead."
The International Booker Prize 2025 shortlist was announced on April 8, including A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, and On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle. The winner will be announced on May 20.
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