The Impressive TimesLondon, May 21 – In a landmark moment for Indian literature, writer, lawyer, and activist Banu Mustaq has become the first Kannada author to win the prestigious International Booker Prize for her evocative short story anthology Heart Lamp.
The anthology, which spans 12 stories written between 1990 and 2023, was translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi, who also made history as the first Indian translator to receive the internationally acclaimed literary award.
“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,” Mustaq said in her heartfelt acceptance speech.
“In a world that often tries to divide us, literature remains one of the last sacred spaces where we can live inside each other’s minds, if only for a few pages,” she added.
Hailing from a modest township in Karnataka, Mustaq’s path to literary success was anything but conventional. Her first short story was published in a local magazine a year after she chose her life partner and married at the age of 26. She has spoken openly in interviews about the early struggles and conflicts in her marital life, themes that often surface in her writing.
Over the decades, Mustaq has received several notable honors, including the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award and the Daana Chintamani Attimabbe Award, recognizing her profound contributions to Indian literature.
Her International Booker win follows Geetanjali Shree’s 2022 victory for Tomb of Sand, translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell, marking another milestone in the global recognition of Indian regional literature.
In 2024, an English compilation of Mustaq’s earlier works titled Haseena and Other Stories—featuring selections from five collections published between 1990 and 2012—won the PEN Translation Prize, further cementing her legacy.
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