Banu Mushtaq’s ‘Heart Lamp’ wins International Booker Prize
The Kannada story collection was translated by Deepa Bhasthi
Shillong, May 21: Heart Lamp has become the first story collection to win the International Booker Prize, an award for fiction translated into English.
Deepa Bhasthi translated Heart Lamp from Banu Mushtaq’s original Kannada book. Author Max Porter, who chaired the five-member voting panel, announced the award at a ceremony at London’s Tate Modern.
Karnataka’s former chief minister Siddaramaiah took to X to congratulate Mushtaq. “Heartfelt congratulations to Kannada’s pride, author Banu Mushtaq, who has been awarded the International Booker Prize. This is a moment of celebration for Kannada, Kannadigas, and Karnataka… On behalf of all Kannadigas, I also extend congratulations to the talented writer Deepa Bhasthi, who translated Banu Mushtaq’s Booker Prize-winning work Hridaya Deepa into English ‘Heart Lamp’,” he wrote.
“This is not just my victory, but a chorus of voices often left unheard. A thousand fireflies lighting a single sky, brief, brilliant and utterly collective,” Mushtaq said in her acceptance speech.
Politician and author Shashi Tharoor posted on social media, saying, “Another triumph for Indian writing, a celebration of diversity & of the writer’s belief that “no story is ever too small”.”
