Kannada author Banu Mushtaq wins International Booker for 'Heart Lamp'

Translated by Deepa Bhasthi, 'Heart Lamp' is the first Kannada book and first short story collection to win the International Booker Prize for translated fiction

Writer, activist and lawyer Banu Mushtaq has made history by winning the International Booker Prize for her short story collection Heart Lamp -- the first Kannada-language book to receive this honour. Translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi, Heart Lamp comprises 12 stories written between 1990 and 2023, portraying the struggles of Muslim women in southern India with emotional depth.

 

Mushtaq's victory follows Geetanjali Shree's Tomb of Sand, which won the prize in 2022 and was translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell. Perumal Murugan's Tamil novel Pyre, translated into English by Aniruddhan Vasudevan, made it to the longlist in 2023.

 

 

"This book was born from the belief that no story is ever small, that in the tapestry of human experience every thread holds the weight of the whole," said Mushtaq. "In a world that often tries to divide us, literature remains one of the lost sacred spaces where we can live inside each other's minds, if only for a few pages."

 

Award shared between author and translator

 

The International Booker Prize, a counterpart to the Booker Prize, is awarded for a work of fiction translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. Unlike the Booker Prize, it accepts short story collections. The award is shared equally between the author and the translator. As a major British literary honour, the Booker Prize garners global attention and excitement.

 

The other five books on the shortlisted included: On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle, translated from Danish by Barbara J Haveland; Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated from French by Helen Stevenson; Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated from Japanese by Asa Yoneda; Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated from Italian by Sophie Hughes; and A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated from French by Mark Hutchinson.

 

"This list is our celebration of fiction in translation as a vehicle for pressing and surprising conversations about humanity. These mind-expanding books ask what might be in store for us, or how we might mourn, worship or survive," said Max Porter, the chair of judges. "They offer knotty, sometimes pessimistic, sometimes radically hopeful answers to these questions."

 

13 first-time nominees on longlist

 

All 13 authors on the 2025 longlist were first-time nominees. The selection marked several milestones: the first translation from Kannada (Heart Lamp) to be nominated and shortlisted; the first Romanian author (Cartarescu) to be nominated; and the first nomination for an Iraqi translator (Antoon). Translator Sophie Hughes appeared on the longlist for a record fifth time and the shortlist for a record third time.

 

Each shortlisted title is awarded a prize of 5,000 pounds, shared between the author and translator. The winning prize money will be split between Mushtaq and Bhashti, who will receive 25,000 pounds each.

 

Banu Mushtaq's stints as journalist, lawyer

 

Mushtaq worked as a reporter for a well-known local tabloid and was involved in the Bandaya movement, which aimed to tackle social and economic injustices through literature and activism. A decade after leaving journalism, she became a lawyer to support her family. Over the course of her decades-long career, she has published an extensive body of work, including six short story collections, an essay collection, and a novel.