Kannada writer Banu Mushtaq’s collection of short stories Heart Lamp (Penguin Random House India), translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi, has made it to the longlist for the International Booker Prize 2025. The shortlist of six books will be announced on April 8, while the winner will be revealed in London on May 20. In response to the news, Mushtaq shares, “I am extremely happy that a translation of my stories is on the International Booker Prize longlist. It is a tremendous honour for literature in the Kannada language.”

It is the first book in Kannada to have been nominated for the prestigious award. Hassan-based Mushtaq has stood against oppression as an activist, a lawyer, a reporter, and a storyteller. The stories in the collection, written between 1990 and 2023, explore the lives of Muslim women in southern India. Whether transgressive in their thinking, cunning in their actions, exploitative towards their own kind, assertive in asking for their rights, or tender towards their loved ones, women become key drivers of the narratives.