Banu Mushtaq Wins International Booker Prize for Kannada Short Story Collection ‘Heart Lamp’

Kannada writer, activist, and lawyer Banu Mushtaq was awarded the International Booker Prize 2025 for her short story collection ‘Heart Lamp,’ making it the first work in the language to do so. Awarded at the Tate Modern in London, Mian Mushtaq joined her translator, Deepa Bhasthi, to receive the prize. The collection was honored for its detailed portraits of social conflicts in families and communities, chosen from among entries from all around the world. Mushtaq said the win showed the value of diversity and emphasized how literature connects people. The reward helps to promote long-form fiction or short stories that were first drafted in one language and translated into English for release in the UK or Ireland.

Context

• Banu Mushtaq’s ‘Heart Lamp’ wins The International Booker Prize 2025 and becomes the first Kannada work to win. 

• Heart lamp centers its story around the lives of Muslim women and girls in southern India.

Key points

• About Banu Mushtaq

• Born in 1948 and originally from Hassan, Karnataka, India.

• Author, law graduate, and champion of women’s rights.

• Works in Kannada; established in Indian literature from the 1970s.

• All of the titles below are available in Urdu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and English.

• Heart Lamp by Kannada writer earned the International Booker Prize in 2025, making him the first Indian to win.

Fame and Accomplishments

• Won the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award and Daana Chintamani Attimabbe Award.

• Haseena and Other Stories took home the PEN Translates Award in 2024.

• Because of Heart Lamp, Sheela Gowda became well-known around the world and drew attention to Kannada literature.

About Heart Lamp 

• All the short stories in this publication were written between 1990 and 2023.

• Studies the daily experiences of women and girls living in southern India's Muslim communities.

• Considers how people living in male-dominated societies must overcome hardship.

• Published in English translation by Deepa Bhasthi; publication by And Other Stories in 2025.

Prize Details:

• Prize money: GBP 50,000

• Translator: Deepa Bhasthi translated the book from Kannada to English.

Significance of Win

• First Kannada title to win the International Booker Prize.

• Celebrated as an achievement toward more diversity in stories.

• Helps Indian languages and works of literature to reach people globally.

About the International Booker Prize

• Set up in 2005 and its prior name was the Man Booker International Prize.

• It is presented annually for fiction translated into English and printed in the UK and Ireland.

• Sponsors global fiction and the work of translators.

Other Indians who won International Booker Prize

Conclusion:

With Heart Lamp becoming the first Kannada-language book to win the International Booker Prize, Banu Mushtaq celebrates regional Indian narratives in global writing. This award demonstrates how translating works helps unite different cultures and allows a range of voices to be heard.