Indian Writer Banu Mushtaq Wins International Booker Prize

The International Booker Prize was awarded to Indian writer and activist Banu Mushtaq for her short story collection "Heart Lamp". This marks a significant milestone as Mushtaq is the first author of the Kannada language to win the prize for translated fiction.

About the Award

The 77-year-old Mushtaq, along with her translator Deepa Bhasthi, was awarded the prize of £50,000. Bhasthi not only translated the stories but also helped select them for the award-winning collection. This is the first time a collection of short stories has received the award, and it makes Bhasthi the first Indian translator to win the prize in its current form since 2016.

The Ceremony

The award ceremony took place at the London Tate Modern Museum and was announced by Max Porter, the bestselling author and head of the five-member judging panel. Porter described "Heart Lamp" as "something really new for English readers", highlighting the collection’s unique blend of languages and dialects.

Themes and Reception

The stories in "Heart Lamp" explore themes such as the life of women, reproductive rights, faith, caste, power, and oppression. Porter praised the collection, saying, "These beautiful, busy, life-affirming stories rise from Kannada and are interspersed with the extraordinary socio-political wealth of other languages and dialects." The collection has been critically acclaimed for its dry and gentle humor, witty style, and commentary on topics like patriarchy, boxism, and religious conservatism.

Mushtaq’s Victory

During her acceptance speech, Mushtaq described the award as a "great honor" and said she received it "not as a person, but as a voice that was raised in the choir with so many others". She called her victory "extremely collective", stating, "This moment feels like a thousand fireflies lighting up a single sky – in short, brilliant and completely collective". Mushtaq wrote the short stories in the collection between 1990 and 2023, and Bhasthi’s curation and translation aimed to preserve the multilingual nature of southern India, where Kannada is spoken by around 65 million people.