Banu Mushtaq scripts history, wins International Booker for 'Heart Lamp'
What's the story
Indian writer, lawyer, and activist Banu Mushtaq has made history by winning the prestigious International Booker Prize for her short story collection Heart Lamp.
The book is the first-ever Kannada-language work to win the award.
The collection was translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi and features 12 stories written over three decades (1990-2023), highlighting the struggles of Muslim women in southern India.
Critical acclaim
'Heart Lamp' praised for its nuanced portrayal of women
The book has been lauded for its "witty, vivid, colloquial, moving and excoriating" style.
Max Porter, the chair of the International Booker Prize 2025 judging panel, called it "something genuinely new for English readers." He also praised Bhasthi's translation as "a radical translation that ruffles language."
The stories explore themes like women's experiences and reproductive rights in patriarchal societies.
Personal journey
Mushtaq's journey from small-town girl to award-winning author
Mushtaq grew up in a Muslim neighborhood in Karnataka and initially studied the Quran in Urdu at school.
Her father later enrolled her in a convent school when she was eight, hoping she'd learn Kannada.
She started writing while she was still in school, and even though her friends were getting married and having kids, she chose to go to college.
It will take her several years before her works were finally published.
Literary impact
Mushtaq's work highlights resilience and resistance of everyday women
In an interview with Vogue, she said, "I had always wanted to write but had nothing to write....because suddenly, after a love marriage, I was told to wear a burqa and dedicate myself to domestic work."
In another interview with The Week magazine, she described how she was compelled to live a life confined to the four walls of her home.
"Once, in a fit of despair, I poured...petrol on myself...Thankfully, he [the husband] sensed it in time," she said.
Prize distribution
Prize money
In her book Heart Lamp, her female characters show this spirit of resistance and strength.
The International Booker Prize honors works published in the UK or Ireland between May 2024 and April 2025.
Each shortlisted title receives GBP 5,000, while the winner gets GBP 50,000 to be shared between author and translator.
Over the years, Mushtaq's writings have also received various significant local and national accolades, including the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award and the Daana Chintamani Attimabbe Award.