Penguin Random House India is proud to announce that Banu Mushtaq’s short story collection Heart Lamp, translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi, has been awarded the International Booker Prize 2025. This is the first time that a Kannada translation and an Indian origin translator has won the prestigious award. The book also received the English PEN Translation Award in 2024.
This achievement marks a historic moment, with Heart Lamp becoming one of the very few Kannada-language works to be recognised at this level. It is also a significant milestone for Indian literature in translation and for Penguin, following the 2022 win for Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree and the 2023 longlisting of Pyre by Perumal Murugan.
Originally written in Kannada, Heart Lamp explores the complexities of womanhood, love, loss, and the weight of tradition in contemporary South India. The stories are deeply rooted yet universally resonant, making this collection a moving and unforgettable literary experience.
Moutushi Mukherjee, Commissioning Editor, Penguin Random House India, said,‘I am, to say the least, thrilled and excited that Indian literature has had such a big win. It has been an exhilarating journey for us at Penguin following the journey of this book with Banu and Deepa over the last year. Can’t wait to see it being read and loved by people.’
Milee Ashwarya, Publisher & SVP, Adult Publishing Division, Penguin Random House India, said, ‘This is an incredible moment for Indian publishing and Penguin Random House India. We are overjoyed and proud of our book Heart Lamp that has touched so many hearts across the world. My heartiest congratulations to our author Banu Mushtaq and translator Deepa Bhasthi on this outstanding achievement.’
The International Booker Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, celebrating the best fiction from across the globe that has been translated into English. It recognises both the author and the translator equally, acknowledging the vital role of translation in global literature.
The 2025 judging panel is chaired by Max Porter, acclaimed author of Grief Is the Thing with Feathers and Lanny, with poet and filmmaker Caleb Femi, writer and Publishing Director of Wasafiri Sana Goyal, Booker Prize-shortlisted translator Anton Hur, and singer-songwriter Beth Orton completing the panel.
About the Author
Banu Mushtaq is a writer, activist and lawyer from Karnataka, southern India. Mushtaq began writing within the progressive protest literary circles in southwestern India in the 1970s and 80s. Critical of the caste system, the Bandaya Sahitya movement gave rise to influential Dalit and Muslim writers, of whom Mushtaq was one of the few women. She is the author of six short story collections, a novel, an essay collection and a poetry collection. She writes in the Kannada language and has won the Karnataka Sahitya Academy and Daana Chintamani Attimabbe awards.
About The Translator
Deepa Bhasthi is a writer and literary translator based in Kodagu, southern India. Her columns, essays and cultural criticism have been published in India and internationally. Her published translations from Kannada include a novel by Kota Shivarama Karanth and a collection of short stories by Kodagina Gouramma. Her translation of Banu Mushtaq’s stories has won her the English PEN Translates award.
