In News:

In a historic win, Banu Mushtaq, a prominent Kannada writer, advocate, and activist, became the first Indian author writing in Kannada to win the International Booker Prize 2025 for her short story collection Heart Lamp. The book was translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi, who also became the first Indian translator to win this prestigious award.

About the International Booker Prize

• Established: 2005 by the Booker Prize Foundation, UK.
• Awarded: Annually.
• Purpose: To honour the best work of fiction translated into English, regardless of the original language or nationality of the author.
• Prize Amount: £50,000, shared equally between the author and the translator.
• Shortlisted nominees (authors and translators) receive £2,500 each.
• Focus: Unlike the Booker Prize, which honours original English-language works, the International Booker Prize exclusively celebrates translated fiction, highlighting the importance of translators in global literature.

Key Features

• Celebrates literary excellence, cultural richness, and the art of translation.
• Initially biennial (2005–2015), it became an annual award in 2016.
• Books must be translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland.

India and the International Booker Prize

Year                    Author                              Work                          Language               Translator

2022                Geetanjali Shree      Tomb of Sand     Hindi                     Daisy Rockwell

2025                Banu Mushtaq          Heart Lamp         Kannada             Deepa Bhasthi

About Banu Mushtaq

• Born: April 3, 1948, in Hassan, Karnataka.
• Professions: Advocate, journalist, feminist writer, women’s rights activist, and former municipal councillor.
• Affiliation: Prominent figure in the Bandaya movement, known for protest literature in Kannada addressing social injustices.
• Journalistic Background: Reported for LankeshPatrike (1981–1990) under the mentorship of P. Lankesh.

Literary Contributions

• Started writing: In 1974; first story published in Prajamatha.
• Themes: Focuses on gender justice, religious identity, caste oppression, and female autonomy.

Heart Lamp: The 2025 Winning Work

• Genre: Short story collection comprising 12 stories written between 1990 and 2023.
• Content: Explores the lives of ordinary South Indian Muslim women, addressing themes like patriarchy, faith, family roles, and self-determination.
• Significance:
  • First short story collection to win the International Booker Prize.
  • First Kannada-language work to win.
  • First win for Indian translator Deepa Bhasthi.

Other Notable Works by Banu Mushtaq

• Benki Male (1999): Awarded the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award.
• HaseenaMattuItaraKathegalu (2015): Translated into English as Haseena and Other Stories.
• Black Cobra (Short Story): Adapted into the award-winning film Hasina by Girish Kasaravalli.