Indian author Banu Mushtaq and translator Deepa Bhasthi received the International Booker Prize on May 20, 2025, for Heart Lamp, a collection of 12 short stories. The award was announced at the Tate Modern in London by Max Porter, chair of the judging panel. The book, originally written in Kannada between 1990 and 2023, explores the lives and struggles of women in southern India. This is the first time the prize has been awarded to a short story collection. Kannada, the language of the stories, is spoken by around 65 million people, mostly in southern India. Bhasthi became the first Indian translator and the ninth female translator to win the award since its current form began in 2016. Mushtaq is now the sixth female author to receive the prize. The book was chosen from six finalists for its powerful representation of women and regional culture.

The stories were selected and arranged by Bhasthi to preserve the multilingual nature of southern India. Porter described the translation as radical and said the stories demonstrated socio-political complexity. The themes in Heart Lamp include caste, reproductive rights, faith, power, and inequality. Mushtaq, also a lawyer and activist, explained that the stories showed how social and religious expectations can cause harm to women. The prize money of £50,000 (around $66,000) will be divided equally between the author and the translator. The winners will also receive individual trophies. The International Booker Prize is given annually and highlights literary excellence in translated fiction. The success of Heart Lamp may inspire greater recognition of regional literature and contribute to broader cultural appreciation through translation.