In a groundbreaking moment for global literature, Indian author Banu Mushtaq and translator Deepa Bhasthi have won the 2025 International Booker Prize for Heart Lamp, a powerful collection of twelve short stories chronicling the lives of women in southern India. It is the first time the prestigious prize has been awarded to a short story collection and the recognition marks a milestone for both regional Indian literature and the art of translation.
A literary first for Indian women’s voices
The 2025 International Booker Prize, announced at London’s Tate Modern, recognized Heart Lamp not only for its literary merit but also for its cultural significance. Written originally in Kannada—a language spoken by around 65 million people in southern India—the collection spans over three decades, with stories penned between 1990 and 2023. The book was curated and translated by Deepa Bhasthi, who carefully preserved the polyphonic texture of the original works, embedding the multilingual realities of southern Indian life into her English translation.
Chair of the jury and acclaimed novelist Max Porter described the stories as “beautiful, busy, life-affirming,” highlighting the radical act of translation that brought these voices into the global literary canon. “It speaks of women’s lives, reproductive rights, faith, caste, power and oppression,” said Porter, emphasizing the socio-political weight that makes Heart Lamp not just a literary feat but a necessary intervention in contemporary discourse.
Breaking new ground in storytelling
Mushtaq is the sixth female author to win the International Booker since the award’s modern format began in 2016, and Bhasthi is the first Indian translator ever to win. That the prize was awarded to a short story collection is itself a departure from tradition, underscoring the panel’s desire to recognize diverse forms and narrative approaches.
The book stands apart in its structure and its substance. Rather than building a singular plot, Heart Lamp stitches together fragments of lives, each story drawing on different women’s experiences with religion, gender, caste and politics. The result is a vibrant mosaic that feels both deeply local and universally resonant. Bhasthi’s translation captures the rhythm and texture of Kannada, allowing the multiplicity of voices and regional dialects to remain present in the English version. This act of preservation is not just linguistic—it’s cultural.
A writer shaped by activism and the law
Mushtaq’s work as a lawyer and activist deeply informs her fiction. Speaking at a shortlist reading event shortly before the prize announcement, she described Heart Lamp as a response to the systematic marginalization of women. “These stories are about women – how religion, society and politics demand unquestioning obedience from them, and in doing so, inflict inhumane cruelty upon them,” she said. “They are turned into mere subordinates.”
The stories do not merely portray victimhood; they explore resistance, survival, and selfhood. From rural villages to urban courtrooms, Mushtaq’s characters wrestle with faith, patriarchy and tradition—sometimes breaking free, sometimes resigning themselves, but always portrayed with dignity and complexity. Her background in human rights law imbues the stories with legal and moral nuance, anchoring even the most poetic scenes in lived social realities.
Translating more than language
Translator Deepa Bhasthi’s role in shaping Heart Lamp cannot be overstated. As both selector and translator, she curated the twelve stories from Mushtaq’s extensive body of work, choosing those that best encapsulated the diversity of southern Indian womanhood. Her translation captures not just the literal meaning of the words but their cultural subtext, tone, and urgency.
Porter and the jury praised Bhasthi’s ability to carry over the “extraordinary socio-political richness” of the original text. In doing so, she has bridged two literary worlds—introducing Kannada literature to English-speaking audiences while remaining fiercely loyal to the spirit of the source language. Her win places her among a small but growing group of women translators who are reshaping what global literature can look like.
A win beyond borders
The 50,000-pound prize (approximately $66,000) is to be split equally between Mushtaq and Bhasthi, symbolizing the equal value of original authorship and the labor of translation. Both were presented with a trophy during the ceremony, which signaled a new chapter not just for Indian literature, but for literary recognition of translation as an act of creation.
As Heart Lamp reaches new readers around the world, it brings with it stories that have long deserved a wider audience. Stories of women who navigate society’s harshest expectations, who suffer and survive, and who illuminate the path forward not with spectacle, but with quiet strength.
The global stage for regional literature
With Heart Lamp, Kannada literature takes its place on the global literary stage. For many, this recognition may spark curiosity about India’s vast regional literary traditions, which exist beyond the more globally known English and Hindi outputs. The win also sets a precedent: that short stories, regional voices and collaborative translation projects can carry the same weight as any novel.
In a year when global literature is increasingly shaped by themes of identity, justice and marginalization, Heart Lamp offers not just literary excellence but also emotional and political resonance. It proves that stories rooted in specific geographies can speak to universal truths and that voices long overlooked can shine the brightest when finally heard.
