Kannada author Banu Mushtaq has won the prestigious International Booker Prize 2025 for her acclaimed book ‘Heart Lamp’.
The book was translated from Kannada to English by Madikeri-based translator Deepa Bhasthi.
The Karnataka-based writer has become the first Kannada author to win the International Booker Prize.
Mushtaq said, “This feels like a thousand fireflies lighting a single sky – brief, brilliant and utterly collective.”
An advocate and journalist by profession, she has made her mark as a storyteller, poet, novelist, and social activist.
This is only the second time an Indian work has clinched the International Booker, after Geetanjali Shree and Daisy Rockwell won in 2022 for Tomb of Sand (Ret Samadhi).
The award was announced at a ceremony held at London’s Tate Modern. Author Max Porter, who chaired the 2025 judging panel, revealed Heart Lamp as the winner, notably the first short collection to receive this honour.
He praised the book’s vibrant and uplifting narratives, rooted in Kannada yet enriched with the socio-political depth of various dialects and languages.
He noted that the stories explore themes such as women’s experiences, reproductive rights, faith, caste, power structures, and oppression.
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A fierce advocate of women’s rights, Mushtaq’s work consistently probes the intersections of gender, caste, power, and religion.
The 77-year-old author has openly criticised how society demands obedience from women while normalising cruelty against them.
