Overview

• Banu Mushtaq’s Heart Lamp clinched the 2025 International Booker Prize, becoming the first work in Kannada and only the second Indian entry to win the award.
• The collection of 12 short stories, written between 1990 and 2023 and translated by Deepa Bhasthi, explores Muslim women’s experiences of patriarchy, oppression and resilience.
• Penguin Random House India has committed to translating Heart Lamp into 35 languages and industry insiders have expressed interest in adapting several stories for film.
• The Karnataka government will hold a felicitation ceremony for Mushtaq on June 2 to celebrate her global literary achievement.
• Heart Lamp’s success highlights the rising global recognition of regional Indian literature and amplifies the voices of marginalized Muslim women.