Heart Lamp, a collection of stories by Kannada writer Banu Mushtaq translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi, was longlisted for the 2025 International Booker Prize on 25 February. It went on to make the shortlist and win the award on 20 May, becoming the prize’s first winning short-story collection and its first winner translated from Kannada.
From longlist to International Booker winner
The 2025 International Booker longlist contained 13 books: 11 novels and two short-story collections. The Booker Prizes said the titles had been selected from 154 submissions by publishers, the largest number since the prize took its current form in 2016. Heart Lamp was among the longlisted books announced on 25 February. (The Booker Prizes, 2025)
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
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| 1 |
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Heart Lamp | $10.77 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Heart Lamp: Lamp of Mahamudra and Heart of the Matter | $14.21 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Little First Stickers Diwali: A Festive Activity Book About Lanterns, Lamps, and Light for Children... | $5.11 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Polishing the Lamp of the Heart: A Devotional | $2.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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Light Up the Lamp | $14.95 | Buy on Amazon |
On 8 April, the collection advanced to the six-book shortlist. The judges named it the winner on 20 May at Tate Modern in London. The result made Heart Lamp the first short-story collection to win the International Booker and the first winning work translated from Kannada. (The Booker Prizes, 2025; The Booker Prizes, winner announcement)
Who wrote and translated Heart Lamp?
Banu Mushtaq wrote the stories in Kannada; Deepa Bhasthi translated them into English and selected and curated the English-language collection. And Other Stories published the book in English. The 12 stories were originally written or published across a span from 1990 to 2023. (The Booker Prizes, Heart Lamp)
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The Booker describes the stories as portraying women and girls in Muslim communities in southern India. It notes that Bhasthi retains Urdu and Arabic words in places, preserving some of the multilingual texture of speech. That description identifies a central setting and aspect of the translation, not a claim that one collection represents every Muslim woman or the whole of southern India. (The Booker Prizes, Heart Lamp)
The Booker describes Mushtaq as a lawyer and advocate for women’s rights, inspired by women who came to her seeking help. Mushtaq said in the longlist announcement: “The pain, suffering, and helpless lives of these women create a deep emotional response within me. I do not engage in extensive research; my heart itself is my field of study.” Bhasthi described her approach to translation this way: “For me, translation is an instinctive practice, and each book demands a completely different process.” (The Booker Prizes, 2025 longlist announcement)
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the award recognizes
The International Booker recognizes a work of long-form fiction or a short-story collection translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland during the eligible period. For the 2025 cycle, that window ran from 1 May 2024 to 30 April 2025. The judging panel was chaired by Max Porter. (The Booker Prizes, 2025; The Booker Prizes, winner announcement)
The 2025 winner’s £50,000 award is shared equally by author and translator: £25,000 each. Each shortlisted title also received £5,000, split equally between its author and translator. The prize structure recognizes the translator as a named creative partner, rather than treating translation as incidental to the winning book. (The Booker Prizes, International Booker Prize; The Booker Prizes, winner announcement)
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Porter called the book “something genuinely new for English readers: a radical translation”. That is the chair’s assessment on behalf of the judging process, not a neutral description of every reader’s response. (The Booker Prizes, judges’ comments)
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