The tales in ‘Heart Lamp’, the first collection of short stories to win the prize, were written by Mushtaq over a period of over 30 years, from 1990 to 2023. It marks the second win for an Indian title since 2022.
In a historic literary moment, writer, activist, and lawyer Banu Mushtaq has become the first Kannada author to win the prestigious £50,000 International Booker Prize for her short story collection ‘Heart Lamp’. The award was announced at a glittering ceremony held at Tate Modern in London, where Mushtaq accepted the honour alongside Deepa Bhasthi, who translated the work from Kannada into English. Mushtaq described her win as a triumph for diversity and inclusion, celebrating voices from regional and underrepresented languages.
The celebrated collection comprises 12 compelling short stories, each shedding light on the resilience, wit, and quiet rebellion of women navigating patriarchal communities in southern India. Drawing on a rich oral storytelling heritage, the book paints vivid, emotionally resonant portraits of everyday life. Selected from a shortlist of six international titles, Heart Lamp won over the jury with its “witty, vivid, colloquial, moving, and excoriating” narrative style, which masterfully explores family dynamics and social tensions with both warmth and unflinching honesty.
The other five books on the shortlist 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. Each shortlisted title is awarded a prize of GBP 5,000, shared between the author and translator, and the winning prize money is split between Mushtaq and Bhashti, who receive GBP 25,000 each.
Know about Banu Mushtaq and her notable works
77-year-old Banu Mushtaq is the first Kannada author to win the annual Booker Prize given to the best English-translated fiction. A celebrated literary figure, Mushtaq is equally known for her powerful advocacy of women’s rights and her legal activism challenging social and religious discrimination. Her writing boldly explores how religion, politics, and society often demand unquestioning obedience from women—frequently leading to systemic cruelty. Her voice has long resonated with the marginalised, especially through stories that reflect real-world struggles.
Mushtaq’s literary journey began during her school days when she penned her first short story. However, her writing gained public attention at the age of 26 when her debut story was published in the popular Kannada magazine Prajamata. Growing up in a large Muslim family, she found a strong supporter in her father, particularly during her resistance against the authoritarian nature of her school.
Influenced deeply by Karnataka’s progressive literary movements, Mushtaq was actively involved in the Bandaya Sahitya movement—a literary rebellion against caste and class oppression. Her body of work includes six short story collections, a novel, an essay collection, and a poetry anthology. She has received notable recognitions such as the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award and the Daana Chintamani Attimabbe Award. Her early stories were compiled in the 2013 collection Haseena Matthu Ithara Kathegalu, while her more recent work, Hennu Haddina Swayamvara, was published in 2023.
