Banu Mushtaq, an Indian writer, lawyer, and activist, is the first author to win the International Booker Prize for a book written in Kannada, the language spoken in Karnataka. Her powerful short story anthology Heart Lamp has earned international recognition, making it the first Kannada work to win this prestigious award. The book is focused on the struggles and strengths of Muslim Women in Southern India, It contains a total of 12 stories written between 1990 and 2023. The book was translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi.
Mushtaq’s win follows Indian author Geetanjali Shree’s 2022 victory for her Hindi novel Tomb of Sand, translated by Daisy Rockwell. Like Shree, Mushtaq’s work is now being celebrated across the world, highlighting the challenges faced by women in deeply patriarchal and religiously conservative settings.
According to the readers,
“In a literary culture that rewards spectacle, Heart Lamp insists on the value of attention – to lives lived at the edges, to unnoticed choices, to the strength it takes simply to persist. That is Banu Mushtaq’s quiet power.”
From a Small Town Girl to a Literary Icon
Banu Mushtaq was born and raised in a Muslim neighborhood in a small town in Karnataka. In her community, most of the girls study the Quran at school, and she also spent her childhood studying the Quran. However, her father, a government employee, wanted a different life for her. Mushtaq was eight when she was enrolled in a convent school by her father, and the medium of instruction in that school was Kannada, the language in which she would later embrace in her writings.
Mushtaq began writing in school and pursued a college education even when her peers were settling into domestic life. It took several years before she was published, and her first short story appeared in a local magazine shortly after she married the man of her choice at 26.
Writing Through Personal Struggles
Mushtaq’s early married life was far from easy. She openly spoke about the personal challenges she faced, including postpartum depression and being confined to a life of domesticity. In an interview, she said,
“I had always wanted to write but had nothing to write about because suddenly, after a love marriage, I was told to wear a burqa and dedicate myself to domestic work. I became a mother suffering from postpartum depression at 29.”
In another shocking revelation to The Week magazine, she shared an incident where she attempted self-immolation in despair. Her husband, sensing something was wrong, stopped her just in time, begging her not to leave him and their child.
Stories Rooted in Resistance and Resilience
Heart Lamp reflects these deeply personal experiences. The book’s characters are women who resist, survive, and persist in small but powerful ways.
A reviewer wrote in his review that:
“In mainstream Indian literature, Muslim women are often flattened into metaphors — silent sufferers or tropes in someone else’s moral argument. Mushtaq refuses both. Her characters endure, negotiate, and occasionally push back — not in ways that claim headlines, but in ways that matter to their lives.”
A Voice for the Marginalised
Mushtaq worked as a reporter with a popular local tabloid and was associated with the Bandaya movement, which used literature to fight against social and economic injustice. After journalism, she became a lawyer, using the profession to support her family while continuing to write. She has published six short story collections, a novel, and a collection of essays, building a body of work that is widely respected but also controversial.
Facing Backlash for Bold Opinions
Mushtaq’s outspoken nature hasn’t gone unnoticed. In 2000, after she publicly supported the idea of women offering prayers in mosques, she received threatening phone calls, had a fatwa issued against her, and was almost stabbed by a man before being saved by her husband. Despite these threats, Mushtaq stood firm.
“I have consistently challenged chauvinistic religious interpretations. These issues are central to my writing even now,” she told media
“Society has changed a lot, but the core issues remain the same.
Recognition and Legacy
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Mushtaq has been honored with multiple awards, including the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award and the Daana Chintamani Attimabbe Award. In 2024, another English-translated work of hers – Haseena and Other Stories, a collection of stories from 1990 to 2012 – won the PEN Translation Prize. Banu Mushtaq’s win is not just a moment of pride for Kannada literature, but also a powerful reminder of how deeply personal experiences can become universal through storytelling. She has become a voice for many women who have lived in silence for too long. Her quiet but unwavering courage continues to inspire – both in life and in literature.
With inputs from agencies
Image Source: Multiple agencies
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