Karnataka-based writer, activist and lawyer Banu Mushtaq’s short story collection ‘Heart Lamp’ has been shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025. The work has been translated from Kannada to English by Deepa Bhasthi.

This is the first time a Kannada title has made it this far in the race for the coveted literary prize. Shortlisted among six worldwide titles, Mushtaq’s work appealed to the judges for its witty, vivid, colloquial, moving and excoriating style of capturing portraits of family and community tensions. The 12 stories, published originally between 1990 and 2023, will now go head-to-head with authors from across the world.

In a statement, Penguin Random House India said this achievement marks a historic moment, with Heart Lamp becoming one of the very few Kannada-language works to be recognised at this level.