Banu Mushtaq's 'Heart Lamp' – Translated By Deepa Bhasthi – Is 2025 International Booker Prize Winner

Banu Mushtaq's Heart Lamp, a collection of 12 short stories originally published in Kannada, is the winner of the International Booker Prize.

Banu Mushtaq is a writer, women’s rights activist and lawyer. Mushtaq's work deals with the extraordinary struggles of everyday women, particularly Muslim women.

"The pain, suffering, and helpless lives of these women create a deep emotional response within me. I do not engage in extensive research; my heart itself is my field of study," she is quoted as having said in the prize's official website.

A winner of the Karnataka Sahitya Academy and the Daana Chintamani Attimabbe awards, Mushtaq had not been translated into English in full-length book form until Deepa Bhasthi's work on Heart Lamp.

This book is not only the first winner to be translated from Kannada but also the first short-story collection to do so.

Also read: Humour, Scepticism and the Realities of the Familial in Banu Mushtaq's 'Heart Lamp'

Bhasthi is a writer and literary translator based in Kodagu. Her published translations from Kannada include a novel by Kota Shivarama Karanth and a collection of short stories by Kodagina Gouramma.

"With Banu’s stories, I first read all the fiction she had published before I narrowed it down to the ones that are in Heart Lamp. I was lucky to have a free hand in choosing what stories I wanted to work with..." Bhasthi told the Booker website.

The International Booker Prize's 2025 judges, Anton Hur, Beth Orton, Caleb Femi, Max Porter and Sana Goyal.

"These stories speak truth to power and slice through the fault lines of caste, class, and religion widespread in contemporary society, exposing the rot within: corruption, oppression, injustice, violence. Yet, at its heart, Heart Lamp returns us to the true, great pleasures of reading: solid storytelling, unforgettable characters, vivid dialogue, tensions simmering under the surface, and a surprise at each turn," they have been quoted as having said.

While the Booker Prize is given for novels originally written in English, the International Booker Prize acknowledges and awards fiction translated into English from another language.

This is the second book written in an Indian language to win the prize after Geetanjali Shree, whose work was translated by Daisy Rockwell.

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