‘Heart Lamp' by Banu Mushtaq wins the International Booker Prize
Banu Mushtaq's 'Heart Lamp' has won the International Booker Prize, the first collection of short fiction to do so. Translated by Deepa Bhasthi, it is also the first book originally published in Kannada — the official language of the author's home state of Karnataka, in India — to win the award.
'Heart Lamp' explores the lives of Muslim and Dalit women in southern India, and its dozen stories were written and originally published over a period of more than 30 years. Mushtaq has said that many of its stories were inspired by individuals who sought her help as an activist and lawyer. 'I do not engage in extensive research; my heart itself is my field of study,' she said in an interview for the Booker Prize Foundation's website, later adding, 'My direct engagement with the lives of marginalized communities, women, and the neglected, along with their expressions, gave me the strength to write.'
Accepting the prize in London at a ceremony Tuesday, Mushtaq expressed her hope that it might 'light the way for more stories from unheard corners, more translations that defy borders.'
In her acceptance speech, Bhasthi, the translator, quoted a song in Kannada, which calls the language 'a river of honey, a rain of milk and compares it to sweet ambrosia.'
'Kannada is one of the oldest languages on earth, and I'm ecstatic that this will hopefully lead to a greater interest in reading and writing and translating more from and into the language, and by extension, from and into the magical languages we have in South Asia,' Bhasthi said in her acceptance speech.
The collection has been lauded for its empathy and wry sense of humor. 'Mushtaq's compassion and dark humor give texture to her stories,' said a review published last month in the Financial Times. 'These deceptively simple tales decry the subjugation of women while celebrating their resilience.'
This year's judging panel was chaired by writer Max Porter, who said in a news conference Tuesday that they deliberated over the finalists for six hours — approximately one hour per title — before voting on their top three. Though Porter declined to name the other two titles, he said that the judges unanimously chose 'Heart Lamp' as the winner: 'This is the book that — I don't think I'm betraying anyone's confidences or the energy in the room — this is a book that most of the judges used the word 'love' for, from very early on in the process, right through until our decision last night.'
Porter, praising Bhasthi's translation as 'brilliant,' added that, 'Unlike many translations that seek to appear completely natural in the new language — an invisible translation so to speak — this is something different. This is a translation that celebrates moving from one language into another. It contains a multiplicity of Englishes. It is a translation with a texture. It is a vibrant, radical, extraordinary book.'
'Heart Lamp' was published by And Other Stories, a small press based in Sheffield, in northern England. (In the United States, one of the stories in 'Heart Lamp' was published in the Paris Review and another in the Baffler.) This is the publisher's first time winning the prize but its sixth nomination since 2019. Another of its titles, 'The Book of Disappearance' by Ibtisam Azem, translated from Arabic by Sinan Antoon, was also was longlisted this year.
The International Booker Prize is awarded annually to a book of fiction, translated into English and published in Britain and Ireland. It comes with a purse of 50,000 pounds (about $67,000), split between the author and translator.
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