International Booker Prize 2025

• Karnataka writer, activist and lawyer Banu Mushtaq's short story collection 'Heart Lamp' has been selected for the International Booker Prize 2025.

• Deepa Bhashthi has translated the work from Kannada to English.

• This is the first time a Kannada book has made it this far in the race for the prestigious literary award.

• Shortlisted from six works from across the world, Mushtaq's work impressed the judges with its humorous, lively, colloquial, touching and poignant style depicting tensions within family and community.

• The 12 stories, originally published between 1990 and 2023, will now compete with writers from across the world.