Kannada writer, lawyer, and activist Banu Mushtaq, 77, began writing about her people, their joys, sorrows and anxieties, over five decades ago.
Heart Lamp, a collection of 12 short stories selected from her work written between 1990 and 2023 and translated by Deepa Bhasthi, won the International Booker Prize for 2025 from a shortlist featuring books in French, Italian, Danish, and Japanese.
It’s a first win for Kannada, and the first time in the history of the prize that a collection of short stories has been honoured.
The award for an Indian writer comes three years after Geetanjali Shree won the prestigious literary prize for Tomb of Sand, translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell.
