Banu Mushtaq has created history on a number of levels by taking home the International Booker Prize 2025. It is the first time Kannada has been acknowledged, and her book Heart Lamp became the first collection of short stories to win the grand €50,000 prize. The book is translated by Deepa Bhasthi, who shared the prize with Baby. The 12 short stories explore the everyday lives of Muslim women and girls. The stories are selected by the 77-year-old lawyer and activist from her written collections between 1990-2023.
The ceremony was held at the Tate Modern in London. While accepting the award, Banu Mushtaq said, “This moment feels like a thousand fireflies lighting a single sky brief, brilliant and utterly collective.” She added, “I accept this great honour not as an individual but as a voice raised in chorus with so many others.”
Who is the Booker Prize 2025 Winner, Banu Mushtaq?
2025 Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq was born on 3rd April, 1948 in Hassan. Throughout her life, she has been an activist, journalist, lawyer, and politician in addition to being a writer. She has an LLB and a B.Sc. degree.
She got married to a businessman named Mohiyuddin Mustaq at her age of 26. Banu started writing in the 1970s, and in 1974, her first story was published in the magazine ‘Prajamatha’. She was a reporter for Lankesh Patrike from 1981 to 1990. It is a tabloid edited by post and author P. Lankesh (father of late journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh)
In the 1980s, Banu was linked to the Bandaya movement in Kannada literature. The movement was a strong cry for social and economic justice. It was characterized by a history of protest while providing a forum for under-represented groups, such as Dalits and Muslims. She was elected as a member of the Hassan City Municipal Council in 1983. She served in the office for 2 terms. To provide for her family, Banu quit journalism in 1990 and started working as an advocate.
For roughly the course of 6 decades of her literary career, Banu has however created approximately 60 stories. Her stories have been translated and published across 6 volumes in Kannada, Urdu, Arabic, and Dakhni languages. They indeed explore the themes of faith, gender, and resistance.
What gives Banu Mushtaq’s stories strength?
The 1970s, which were marked by significant Karnataka movements, including “the Dalit movement, farmers’ movement, language movement, rebellion movement, women’s struggles, environmental activism, and theatre, activities among others, had a profound impact” on Banu Mushtaq, who spoke about the inspiration behind her writing in an interview with The Booker Prize. As she worked closely with “marginalised communities, women and the neglected, along with their expressions,” she finally found the strength to write. Her writing was indeed influenced by the societal circumstances in Karnataka, which culminated in her historic 2025 Booker Prize victory.
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