Indian author Banu Mushtaq wins International Booker Prize. Know more about her
Inspired by the progressive movements in Karnataka, Mushtaq travelled across the state and involved herself in the Bandaya Sahitya movement, which challenged class and caste oppression.
Banu Mushtaq has become the first Kannada author to win the prestigious International Booker Prize for her book ‘Heart Lamp’. Mushtaq accepted the award for the best English-translated fiction, which was announced in London’s Tate Modern, along with Deepa Bhasthi, who translated her work from Kannada to English.
Banu Mushtaq, 77, writes about the lives of women, oppression, caste, and power in her works. Reacting to her achievement, Mushtaq said, “This feels like a thousand fireflies lighting a single sky – brief, brilliant and utterly collective.”
Who is Banu Mushtaq?
While Mushtaq is known for her literary works, she is also an advocate of women’s rights. In her works, Mushtaq has criticised how religion, society and politics demand obedience from women and inflict cruelty upon them.
Mushtaq, who was born in a large Muslim family, received support from her father despite the authoritative environment at her school.
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Even in her personal life, she went against the patriarchal norm and defied social expectations by marrying a man of her choice.
Mushtaq wrote her first short story in middle school. Her work got attention at the age of 26, when her story was published in the popular Kannada magazine Prajamata.
Inspired by the progressive movements in Karnataka, Mushtaq travelled across the state and involved herself in the Bandaya Sahitya movement, which challenged class and caste oppression.
She has written six short story collections, an essay collection, a poetry collection, and a novel. Her work was honoured by the Karnataka Sahitya Academy and the Daana Chintamani Attimabbe awards. Her early works were compiled together in 2013 in the volume Haseena Matthu Ithara Kathegalu, followed by Hennu Haddina Swayamvara in 2023.