Book of short stories translated from Kannada wins first Booker International Prize

According to the organization, in a statement, the book - translated into English by Deepa Bashthi (the first Indian translator to win the International Booker) - is also the first to win the International Booker translated from Kannada, an Indian language spoken by 65 million people.

"Heart Lamp is something genuinely new for English readers. A radical translation that shakes up the language, to create new textures in a plurality of Englishes. It challenges and expands our understanding of translation. These beautiful, busy and hopeful stories emerge from Kannada, mixed with the extraordinary socio-political richness of other languages ​​and dialects. It speaks of women's lives, of reproductive rights, faith, caste, power and oppression," said this year's jury chairman, fellow writer Max Porter.

Quoted in a statement, Porter said that "this was the book that the judges really loved, from the first reading", and are now "excited to share this timely and exciting winner of the 2025 Booker International Prize with readers around the world".

The jury was also composed of the poet Caleb Femi, the publisher Sana Goyal, the author and translator Anton Hur, and the singer Beth Orton.

According to the Booker organization, 'Heart Lamp' "tells the resilience, endurance, wit and sisterhood of women in patriarchal communities in southern India."

"From tough, stoic mothers to opinionated grandmothers, from cruel husbands to resilient children, the female characters in the stories endure great inequalities and hardships, yet remain defiant," the text adds.

The stories included in the book were written by Banu Mushtaq between 1990 and 2023, and were chosen by the translator, who intended to "preserve the multilingual nature of southern India".

When Arabic or Urdu words are used, they are left in the original, "reproducing the unique rhythms of the spoken language".

Banu Mushtaq is 77 years old, a lawyer and one of the leading voices in Kannada literature, an activist for women's rights and an opponent of the Indian caste system.

None of his works are published in Portuguese, including the now winner of the International Booker.

The prize, which annually recognises a book of fiction translated into English and provides for the award of a monetary value of 50 thousand pounds (distributed between the author and translator), was announced at a ceremony tonight in London.

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