Indian author Banu Mushtaq wins International Booker Prize for short stories

INDIAN writer, lawyer and activist Banu Mushtaq has won the International Booker Prize for her short story collection Heart Lamp.

Mushtaq, 77, is the first author writing in Kannada to win the literary prize, which recognises fiction translated into English. The announcement was made on Tuesday at a ceremony at the Tate Modern gallery in London.

"This moment feels like a thousand fire flies lighting a single sky -- brief, brilliant and utterly collective," Mushtaq said at the event. "I accept this great honour not as an individual but as a voice raised in chorus with so many others."

She will share the £50,000 prize with translator Deepa Bhasthi, who also helped select the stories in the book.

Heart Lamp brings together 12 short stories originally published between 1990 and 2023. The stories are set in Muslim communities in southern India and centre around the lives of women and girls.

Mushtaq, who lives in Karnataka, is known for her legal work and advocacy for women's rights.

The jury praised the collection for its humour, conversational tone, and its focus on patriarchy, caste and religious conservatism.

Her characters were described by the jury as "astonishing portraits of survival and resilience", including grandmothers and religious clerics.

"My stories are about women – how religion, society, and politics demand unquestioning obedience from them, and in doing so, inflict inhumane cruelty upon them, turning them into mere subordinates," Mushtaq said.

Max Porter, chair of the judges, said Heart Lamp was "something genuinely new for English readers."

"A radical translation which ruffles language, to create new textures in a plurality of Englishes. It challenges and expands our understanding of translation," he said.

(With inputs from agencies)