By Muhammad Nadeem
SRINAGAR: In a historic moment for Indian regional literature, Banu Mushtaq, a prominent writer, activist, and lawyer from Karnataka, has won the 2025 International Booker Prize for her short story collection Heart Lamp. Translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi, the work brings global recognition to Kannada literature for the first time. The announcement was made on May 20 in London.
Mushtaq becomes the second Indian author to receive the prestigious honour after Geetanjali Shree won in 2022 for Tomb of Sand. The £50,000 (Fifty-seven lakh forty-two thousand six hundred eighty rupees) prize is shared equally between Mushtaq and Bhasthi, whose translation has been celebrated for retaining the linguistic texture of the original.
Spanning three decades (1990–2023), Heart Lamp contains 12 stories that delve into the lives of women in patriarchal southern Indian societies—particularly in Karnataka’s Malnad region. The collection paints a vivid picture of generational resilience, resistance, and sisterhood. The characters—tough mothers, opinionated grandmothers, abusive husbands, and determined children—confront caste hierarchies, social inequities, and cultural silences.
British literary critics have lauded the collection for its narrative depth and emotional power. Writing in The Guardian, John Self called the stories “deceptively simple yet fierce in their indictment of injustice.” The Financial Times reviewer Lucy Popescu praised the work for its “compassion, dark humour, and celebration of resilience.”
In her acceptance speech, Mushtaq noted, “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.”
Published in the UK by And Other Stories and in India by Penguin Random House, Heart Lamp gained international visibility after winning the 2024 PEN Presents Award.
Born in 1948 into a Muslim family in Hassan, Karnataka, Mushtaq defied conservative norms early on. At 26, she married for love and later earned a law degree—an unusual trajectory for a woman from her background at the time. She began writing in the 1970s as part of the Bandaya Sahitya (Rebel Literature) movement, a progressive literary circle that challenged caste hierarchies and class oppression.
Over the years, Mushtaq has authored six short story collections, one novel, a book of essays, and a collection of poetry—all in Kannada. Her work has earned her several accolades, including the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award and the Daana Chintamani Attimabbe Award.
At a recent Southbank Centre event, Mushtaq remarked, “Being a lawyer, activist, and writer, I witness \[women’s struggles] every day. They seek relief. My stories are about women—how religion, society, and politics demand unquestioning obedience… compelling me to write.”
Her translator, Deepa Bhasthi, described the translation process as “preserving the accent” of the original—retaining linguistic elements that reflect the multilingual reality of Karnataka’s Muslim communities.
Following the announcement, Mushtaq’s hometown of Hassan erupted in celebration. Her husband, Mushtaq Mohiyudin, and extended family watched the ceremony live, while messages of congratulations poured in from across India.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and MP Rahul Gandhi both hailed the win as a “landmark moment” for Indian literature. “Mushtaq’s stories shine a light on social justice, harmony, and secularism,” Gandhi posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Mushtaq’s win is seen not just as a personal triumph, but as a breakthrough for Kannada literature, spoken by over 65 million people, and for the broader landscape of Indian languages on the global stage.
The International Booker Prize win reaffirms the literary potency of stories rooted in the local. With Heart Lamp, Mushtaq has illuminated the struggles of women whose lives are often obscured from mainstream narratives. Yet, through her pen—and Bhasthi’s skilful translation, those voices now echo far beyond the Malnad hills.
As global readers discover the richly textured prose of Banu Mushtaq, her win may herald a new era for India’s regional literature on the world stage.
