International Booker Prize 2025

Why in News? 

Recently, Banu Mushtaq, a renowned writer and social activist from Karnataka, has been awarded the International Booker Prize 2025, giving Indian literature a new recognition on the global stage.

International Booker Prize 2025

• Venue:
  • The prestigious award ceremony was held at the Tate Modern Museum in London.
• Announcer:
  • The announcement of the award was made by Max Porter, who has previously been shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
  • This time, he served as the chair of the five-member jury panel.
• Winner:
  • Renowned Karnataka-based writer and social activist Banu Mushtaq was honoured with the International Booker Prize 2025 for her collection of Kannada short stories ‘Heart Lamp’.
  • This award was jointly given to her and her translator Deepa Bhasthi, who rendered the work into English with remarkable sensitivity.
  • This marks the first occasion that a work in Kannada has gained international acclaim through translation.
  • It is also the inaugural instance of a short story collection winning the International Booker Prize.

Full Introduction to Banu Mushtaq

• Early Life:
  • Banu Mushtaq was born in 1948 into a Muslim family in Karnataka’s Hassan district.
  • At the age of eight, she began studying in Kannada medium at a missionary school in Shivamogga.
• Married Life:
  • At the age of 26, Banu entered into a love marriage.
  • This decision became a symbol of women’s freedom of choice in that era.
  • She proved that a woman’s voice and desires are worthy of respect.
• Beginning of Writing:
  • Banu began writing during a phase of postpartum depression.
  • Her debut published story was featured in the Kannada magazine Prajamaata when she was 29 years old.
  • Her stories bring out the psychological world of women, their pain, dignity, and the oppression they face in society.
• Social Awareness:
  • Banu Mushtaq emerged as a significant voice in various social movements.
  • Since the 1980s, she has actively opposed fundamentalism and social injustice.
  • She worked with organisations like Komu Sauharda Vedike to resist communalism.
  • When she championed the right of Muslim women to access mosques, she and her family encountered social ostracism.
• Literary Journey:
  • Banu Mushtaq has published six short story collections, one novel, one poetry collection, and one essay anthology.
  • Her writings focus on complex themes such as female identity, class struggle, cultural inequality, and religious extremism.
  • Her story Kari Nagargalu was adapted into the 2003 film Haseena, which brought her literature wider recognition.
• Awards and Honours:
  • Banu Mushtaq has been honoured with prestigious awards like the Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Award (1999) and the Dana Chintamani Attimabbe Award.
  • In 2024, she also received the PEN Translate Award for her translated works, gaining international acclaim.

Special Note: Deepa Bhasthi, a writer and translator from Kodagu, Karnataka, became the first Indian translator to win the International Booker Prize.

What’s in the ‘Heart Lamp’ Story Collection?

• ‘Heart Lamp’ is a collection of 12 stories set in diverse backgrounds.
• These stories are based on the realities of Muslim women in South India.
• These women are bound by social, religious, and family constraints.
• The author portrays their pain, struggles, and courage with simplicity and strength.
• These stories were crafted between 1990 and 2023.
• Throughout these three decades, Banu keenly observed and comprehended the challenges faced by women.
• Her writing style is colloquial, yet filled with emotional depth.
• The narratives highlight issues of social injustice, caste discrimination, and political deceit.
• Characters like grandmothers, innocent girls, mothers, and helpless wives are portrayed powerfully.
• The collection reveals societal truths, with each story carrying twists, tension, and depth that stir the reader.
• Banu Mushtaq’s writing has emerged as a strong voice for women’s freedom and equality.
• At a time when the world grapples with women’s rights, secularism, and social justice, ‘Heart Lamp’ has become a mirror of our times.

What is the International Booker Prize?

• Introduction:
  • The International Booker Prize celebrates the finest fiction from around the world, recognizing books not originally written in English but brought to life through translation.
  • Only titles translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland qualify for this global literary honour.
  • The aim of the prize is to bring stories from different corners of the world to a common platform.
  • The prize was first introduced in 2005.
  • Before 2016, it was awarded every two years to an author for their overall contribution to literature.
  • Since 2016, the award has focused on a single translated book each year, rather than a lifetime body of work.
• Organisers:
  • The prize is administered by the Booker Prize Foundation and receives financial backing from the Crankstart Foundation.
• Process:
  • Each year, a longlist of 12–13 books (known as the “Booker Dozen”) is announced in March.
  • This is followed by a shortlist of 6 books in April, and the winner is declared in May.
• Prize Money:
  • Winners share a £50,000 prize, split evenly between the author and the translator in recognition of their joint achievement.
  • Authors and translators who make it to the shortlist are also rewarded with £2,500 each, honouring their outstanding contributions.

Indian Authors Who Have Been Recognised by the International Booker Prize:

• V. S. Naipaul (1971) – In a Free State: As the first writer of Indian descent to earn this recognition, Naipaul delved into the human cost of exile, identity crises, and the remnants of colonial rule.
• Salman Rushdie (1981) – Midnight’s Children: Rushdie’s landmark novel fused history and magic, capturing India’s birth as a nation through a child’s extraordinary journey.
• Arundhati Roy (1997) – The God of Small Things: With lyrical precision, Roy portrayed Kerala’s caste divides and familial tensions, crafting a story rich in both sorrow and resilience.
• Kiran Desai (2006) – The Inheritance of Loss: Her writing reflects on diasporic life, cultural clashes, and the challenges of modernity, conveying deep feelings of disconnection and belonging.
• Aravind Adiga (2008) – The White Tiger: A satirical take on India’s social structure and economic inequality, Adiga’s novel exposes the complexities of modern India.
• Geetanjali Shree (2022) – Tomb of Sand: The first Hindi-language writer to win the Booker Prize. The novel traces an elderly woman’s journey of self-discovery, touching upon borders, war, and female autonomy with a fresh perspective.