Banu Mushtaq has become the first Indian author writing in Kannada to win the prestigious International Booker Prize, marking a watershed moment for regional Indian literature on the global stage.
Her award-winning work, Heart Lamp, is a collection of twelve short stories translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi.
The book (original name in Kannada: Hridaya Deepa), which traces decades of Mushtaq’s literary output from 1990 to 2023, was recognized for its compelling portrayals of familial and societal conflict in Karnataka.
The announcement was made at a ceremony held at Tate Modern in London on Tuesday night (May 20, 2025), where both Mushtaq and Bhasthi were present to receive the award.
The International Booker Prize, valued at GBP 50,000 (approximately ₹57,50,000), is equally shared between the author and translator. This makes Heart Lamp not only the first Kannada title to win the award but also the first short story collection to achieve the honor.
Mushtaq expressed her gratitude by stating, “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.”
Reflecting on the unifying power of literature, she added, “In a world that often tries to divide us, literature remains one of the lost sacred spaces where we can live inside each other’s minds, if only for a few pages.”
