Banu Mushtaq is an Indian Kannada-language writer, activist, and lawyer from Karnataka. She is best known for Heart Lamp, a selection of her short stories translated by Deepa Bhasthi, which won the International Booker Prize in 2025.
Also inDeutsch
Photos 1
In their own words 7
In a world that often tries to divide us, literature remains one of the last sacred spaces where we can live inside each other's minds, if only for a few pages.
International Booker Prize acceptance speech, May 2025.
Women are often harder on women than men are.
Interview with Vogue India, May 2025.
I have also been writing about how the media often misrepresents Muslims. I once saw a misleading photo of an elderly man garlanded by a young girl, implying child marriage.
Interview with The Week, May 2025.
Awards 3
Connected to Banu 6
David GrossmanAlso won International Booker Prize
Lucas RijneveldAlso won International Booker Prize
Sara AboobackerAlso won Daana Chintamani Attimabbe Award
Lydia DavisAlso won International Booker Prize
Georgi GospodinovAlso won International Booker Prize
Jenny ErpenbeckAlso won International Booker PrizeAbout this person
Banu Mushtaq is an Indian Kannada-language writer, activist, and lawyer from Karnataka. She is best known for Heart Lamp, a selection of her short stories translated by Deepa Bhasthi, which won the International Booker Prize in 2025. She has published six short story collections, a novel, an essay collection, and a poetry collection. Her work has been translated into Urdu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and English.
IndiaFame.am measures public visibility signals. It does not measure human value, talent, morality, or credibility.