Banu Mushtaq’s collection of Kannada stories in translation, Heart Lamp, was shortlisted on Tuesday (April 8, 2025) for the International Booker Prize. The book, among the six featured in this year’s shortlist, made history as the first Kannada-language book to be shortlisted.
Heart Lamp, translated by Deepa Bhasthi, is a collection of 12 short stories written by Banu Mushtaq between 1990 and 2023. Earlier, an English translation of a collection of her short stories, Haseena and Other Stories, won the English PEN translation award for the year 2024. That was also translated by Deepa Bhasthi.
Also read | It’s an honour for Kannada, says writer Banu Mushtaq
“From the too-perfect interiors of a Berlin apartment to a terrifying journey across the English Channel; from patriarchal communities in southern India to a futuristic world at the limits of our imagination; the six shortlisted books place a huge variety of human experiences under the microscope,” the Booker Prize Foundation said in a statement announcing the shortlist.
“These are books about survival and self-preservation – about our indomitable instinct to keep going in the face of catastrophe, oppression, extinction, or hopelessness. In a world that can often seem full of despair, this is a shortlist that celebrates the human spirit – our capacity to endure and our impulse to live a better life,” it added.
Remembering father
Responding to the news, Ms. Mushtaq said she was elated to find Kannada stories on the shortlist. On this momentous occasion of her literary career, she said, she would wish to recall the days when her father, S.A. Rehaman, admitted her to Kannada school.
“My father decided to send me to a Kannada school, against all odds. I remain grateful to him, and his decision introduced me to the world of Kannada. It is not just a language but a thinking process. Similarly, I am grateful to my husband, Mushtaq Mohiyuddin, who stood by me and supported my writing at difficult times,” she said.
As her work has been shortlisted, she will have to travel to London to participate in the event when the winner will be announced on May 20.
Here’s the shortlist for the 2025 International Booker Prize:
On the Calculation of Volume (Book I) by Solvej Balle, translated from the Danish by Barbara J Haveland (New Directions)
Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated from the French by Helen Stevenson
Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated from the Japanese by Asa Yoneda (Soft Skull)
Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated from the Italian by Sophie Hughes (NYRB)
Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated from the Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi (And Other Stories)
A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated from the French by Mark Hutchinson (New Directions)
The winner will be announced at a ceremony at London’s Tate Modern on May 20.
The prize recognises the vital work of translators with the £50,000 prize money divided equally: £25,000 for the author and £25,000 for the translator (or divided equally between multiple translators). In addition, there is a prize of £5,000 for each of the shortlisted titles: £2,500 for the author and £2,500 for the translator (or divided equally between multiple translators).
