The writer added, 'To every reader who journeyed with me, you have made my Kannada language a shared home. It is a language that sings of resilience and nuance. To write in Kannada is to inherit a legacy of cosmic wonder and earthly wisdom."
Published May 21, 2025 | 1:18 PM ⚊ Updated May 21, 2025 | 1:18 PM
Banu Mushtaq wins the International Booker Prize, for her book Heart Lamp, translated by Deepa Bhasthi. (Supplied)
Synopsis: Banu Mushtaq, accepting the International Booker Prize for Heart Lamp, celebrated diversity, collective storytelling, and the power of literature to unite. Translator Deepa Bhasthi called the win a stand against historical erasure and a triumph for Kannada. Both hailed the recognition of regional voices and hoped it would inspire broader interest in South Asian languages and translation.
On Tuesday, 20 May, Banu Mushtaq, a writer, activist, from Karnataka scripted history, by becoming the first Kannada author to win the International Booker Prize, for her book Heart Lamp, translated into English by writer, translator, and researcher Deepa Bhasthi.
Accepting the award at the Tate Modern on Tuesday evening, Banu Mushtaq emphasised that she is accepting the award not as an individual, but as a voice raised in chorus with so many others.
Addressing the platform, Banu Mushtaq in her acceptance speech said, “Judges, fellow authors, and beloved readers across the world, if I may borrow a phrase from my own culture, this moment feels like a thousand firefights lighting up a single sky—brief, brilliant, and utterly collective. To even stand among these extraordinary finalists is an honor I will never forget, and I accept this great honor not as an individual, but as a voice raised in chorus with so many others.”
Reiterating the importance of diversity, Banu Mushtaq added, “I am happy for the entire world, which is full of diversity and inclusiveness. I am happy for myself and my translator, Deepa Bhasthi. This is more than a personal achievement—it is an affirmation that we, as individuals and as a global community, can thrive when we embrace diversity, celebrate our differences, and uplift one another. Together, we create a world where every voice is heard, every story matters, and every person belongs.”
“First, to the Booker Prize committee—thank you for recognizing stories that dare to bridge borders. To my relentless team, my visionary literary agent Kaneska Gupta who believed in this book before it had a heartbeat, my translator Deepa Bhasthi who turned my words into bridges, and my publishers—especially Penguin Random House and And Other Stories, Tara and Stefan—as we sailed across languages and borders, this is your victory too,” she added.
Addressing her family and literary community, Banu Mushtaq claimed that the book is a love letter to the idea that no story is local. “To my family, friends, and readers—you are the soil where my stories grow. This book is my love letter to the idea that no story is local, that a tale born under a banyan tree in my village can cast shadows as far as this stage tonight. To every reader who journeyed with me, you have made my Kannada language a shared home. It is a language that sings of resilience and nuance. To write in Kannada is to inherit a legacy of cosmic wonder and earthly wisdom.”
“This book was born from the belief that no story is ever small—that in the tapestry of human experience, every thread holds the weight of the whole. In a world that often tries to divide us, literature remains one of the last sacred spaces where we can live inside each other’s minds, if only for a few pages.”
“To every reader who trusted me with their time, thank you for letting my words wander into your heart. Tonight is not an end point; it is a torch passed. May it light the way for more stories from unheard corners, more translations that defy borders, and more voices that remind us the universe fits inside every eye. Thank you from the depths of my soul. Thank you.”
Translator Deepa Bhasthi, speaking at the event, opened her speech by greeting in Kannada.
“I’m not sure what just happened. I did not want to jinx our chances of winning by writing a speech, but then I knew if Heart Lamp was called, I would very likely freeze on stage and have the stage fright that I’ve never had in my life—and make an utter fool of myself. So I dared to make some notes. It’s also why I’m reading from my phone instead of from a nice piece of elegant paper. Notes titled: Just in case.”
Calling it win against ongoing battle against violence, Bhasthi added, “The story of the world, if you really think about it, is a history of erasures. It is characterized by the erasure of women’s triumphs and the furtive rubbing away of collective memory—of how women and those on the many margins of this world live and love. This prize is a small win in a long, ongoing battle against such violences.”
“Elsewhere, there is erasure in the media, in people’s understanding of works of literature, of translators and the work we do to bring what would otherwise be unread, uncelebrated texts to new and very different sets of readers. Which is why it is so heartening that the International Booker celebrates and places both writers and writer-translators on the same page, so to speak,” she added.
Hoping that the win will lead to greater interest in Kannada, Bhasthi said, “Thank you, first and foremost, to the International Booker judges for loving these stories and my translation of them. And what a win this is for my beautiful language! ‘Jenina Holeyo Haalina Maleyo’ goes a song in Kannada. It calls the Kannada language a river of honey, a rain of milk, and compares it to sweet ambrosia.”
“Kannada is one of the oldest languages on Earth, and I’m ecstatic that this will hopefully lead to greater interest in reading, writing, and translating more from and into the language—and by extension, from and into the magical languages we have in South Asia.
Thanking the editors, friends and family, she said, “Thank you to my incredible editor Tara Tobler for sprinkling gold dust over my work, thank you to the dream team at And Other Stories—Stefan, Michael, and the others—as also to the wonderful people back home at Penguin Random House India: Maushi, Millie, and the others. Thank you to my wonderful, wonderful agent Kaneska Gupta for absolutely everything. I think the last few months would have been unmanageable without you. To Priya Matthew and Farali, friends old and new, to Sharanya—thank you for the grace, thank you for the sisterhood. ”
“Thank you to my parents, Sudha and Prakash, who don’t always understand what I do or why I do what I do, but they cheer me on nonetheless. And most importantly, my husband Nan, the greatest love of my life—I miss you. I so wish you were here tonight. Thank you so much. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
A native of Hassan, Banu is also a journalist and lawyer. She has published five collections of stories and one collection of essays. She has translated “Family Restraint Act”, Persian work “Tariq-e-Farista” from Urdu to Kannada. Her works have also been translated into Hindi, English, Urdu, Malayalam and Tamil.
Born on 3 April 1955 in Valabhabhai in Hassan, she has written a novel “Badavara Magalu Hennalla”, brought out a collection of stories called “Hejje Mudida Hadi, Benkimale, Edeya Hanate” and has received several awards for her literary work.
She also won numerous awards— Karnataka Sahitya Academy Honorary Award, Padma Bhushan B Sarojdevi Literary Award, International Woman for Radio and Television Award, Karnataka Writers’ Association’s HV. Savitrimma Dattinidhi Award and Gudibande Poornima Dattinidhi Award and others.
Apart from this, Haseena, a Kannada movie by Girish Kasaravalli, based on Banu Mushtaq’s short story called Kari Nagaragalu, won national award in 2004.
(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Rashmi Patil)
