Mushtaq, Bhasthi win 2025 International Booker Prize for ‘Heart Lamp’

Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi (Scribe) has won the 2025 International Booker Prize, the first collection of short stories to win the £50,000 (A$95,325) prize.

The collection of 12 short stories follows women and girls living within patriarchal communities in southern India and is the first Booker Prize winner originally written in Kannada.

The title was chosen from a shortlist of six by judges Max Porter (chair), Caleb Femi, Sana Goyal, Anton Hur and Beth Orton.

Each shortlisted writer and translator also receives £2500 (A$5374).

Last year’s winner was Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated from German by Michael Hofmann (Granta).

Category: Awards International news