Historic Win for Kannada Literature
Banu Mushtaq’s short story collection Heart Lamp has made history by becoming the first-ever Kannada book to win the prestigious International Booker Prize. This is also the first time a short story collection has won the award. The ceremony took place on May 20 at Tate Modern in London.
Prize Shared by Author and Translator
The total prize money of GBP 50,000 (around ₹52 lakh) was shared equally between Banu Mushtaq and Deepa Bhasthi, who translated the stories from Kannada to English. The translator kept some Urdu and Arabic words in the English version to preserve the natural way the characters speak.
Stories About Strength and Sisterhood
The book contains 12 short stories written over a span of more than three decades (1990–2023). The stories highlight the resilience, wit, and unity of Muslim women in southern India, and show their life and struggles in a patriarchal society.
While accepting the award, Banu Mushtaq said:
“This book was born from the belief that no story is ever small. In every person’s life, there is value, and literature helps us connect with each other—even for a few pages.”
Praise from the Judges
Max Porter, the chair of the 2025 judging panel, called the book a “radical translation that plays with language and offers a new kind of English.”
Fiammetta Rocco, the prize administrator, added, “This collection, written by a strong advocate of women’s rights and translated with heart and skill, should be read by everyone around the world.”
The International Booker Prize is given every year to the best work of fiction or short stories translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. Both the author and the translator receive equal shares of the prize money. The other five shortlisted books received GBP 5,000 each. (Also read: Shashi Tharoor to Lead Surprise Global Mission After India’s Bold Strike on Pakistan)
Second Win for Indian Literature
Banu Mushtaq‘s win marks the second time an Indian title has won the prize. In 2022, Geetanjali Shree’s Tomb of Sand, translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell, won the award. In 2023, Tamil writer Perumal Murugan’s Pyre, translated by Aniruddhan Vasudevan, was longlisted.
Other Shortlisted Books (2025)
The other finalists for the 2025 International Booker Prize were:
- On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle (Danish, tr. Barbara J. Haveland)
- Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix (French, tr. Helen Stevenson)
- Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami (Japanese, tr. Asa Yoneda)
- Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico (Italian, tr. Sophie Hughes)
- A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre (French, tr. Mark Hutchinson)
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