Banu Mushtaq's 'Heart Lamp', translated by Deepa Bhasthi, wins International Booker Prize 2025
'Heart Lamp' by Banu Mushtaq, translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi, was announced as the winner of the International Booker Prize 2025 at London's Tate Modern on 20 May 2025 — the first short story collection to win the prize.
Summary
Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi, won the International Booker Prize 2025, announced by Chair of judges Max Porter at a ceremony at London's Tate Modern on Tuesday, 20 May 2025. It is the first collection of short stories to win the prize. Its 12 stories, written between 1990 and 2023, chronicle the lives of women and girls in patriarchal communities in southern India. Mushtaq, a lawyer and writer from Karnataka, becomes the second Indian author to win the prize after Geetanjali Shree in 2022, and Bhasthi the first Indian translator to win it. Heart Lamp is the first book translated from Kannada to be nominated for the prize. The £50,000 prize money is divided equally between author and translator; the publisher is And Other Stories.
Key facts
- Announced
- 20 May 2025, Tate Modern, London
- Book
- Heart Lamp — 12 short stories (1990–2023)
- Author / translator
- Banu Mushtaq / Deepa Bhasthi
- Original language
- Kannada
- Firsts
- First short story collection to win; first Kannada book nominated; first Indian translator to win
- Second Indian author
- After Geetanjali Shree (2022)
- Prize money
- £50,000, split equally
- Chair of judges
- Max Porter
- Publisher
- And Other Stories
Practice MCQs 4 questions
'Heart Lamp', the winner of the International Booker Prize 2025, was originally written in which language?
Show answer
Correct answer: B — Kannada
Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq was translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi.
Consider the following statements about the International Booker Prize 2025: 1. Heart Lamp is the first collection of short stories to win the prize. 2. Banu Mushtaq is the first Indian author to win the International Booker Prize. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Show answer
Correct answer: A — 1 only
Statement 1 is correct. Statement 2 is wrong: Mushtaq is the second Indian author to win, after Geetanjali Shree in 2022.
Who translated Banu Mushtaq's 'Heart Lamp', becoming the first Indian translator to win the International Booker Prize?
Show answer
Correct answer: C — Deepa Bhasthi
Deepa Bhasthi translated Heart Lamp and became the first Indian translator to win the prize. (Polly Barton and Asa Yoneda translated other 2025 longlisted/shortlisted books; Sana Goyal was a 2025 judge.)
How is the £50,000 prize money of the International Booker Prize distributed?
Show answer
Correct answer: D — Equally between the author and the translator
The prize money is divided equally between the author and the translator.