Quill Editorial
In a historic and deeply heartening moment for Indian regional literature, Heart Lamp: Selected Stories, written by Banu Mushtaq and translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi, has been shortlisted for the 2025 International Booker Prize. This marks the first time a work originally written in Kannada has made it to this prestigious global platform—an achievement that signals the quiet yet powerful rise of Indian vernacular voices in world literature.
The title Heart Lamp evokes a gentle yet persistent glow—an inner light that guides, reveals, and bears witness. Much like the stories within, it speaks of illumination from within the margins.
Banu Mushtaq, a veteran writer, lawyer, and women’s rights activist from Hassan, Karnataka, brings to the collection decades of lived experience. Spanning stories published between 1990 and 2023, this selection focuses on the lives of Muslim women and girls in southern India, exploring themes of community, gender, faith, love, and survival. Her voice is intimate, yet unflinching—a chronicler of both tenderness and injustice.
Deepa Bhasthi, an accomplished translator and writer from Kodagu, brings these stories to English with care, insight, and rhythm. Bhasthi’s translation doesn’t just carry over the words, but the soul of Mushtaq’s writing. Her efforts were previously recognized with the English PEN Translates Award, and now with this Booker shortlist, her work resonates on a global stage.
The 2025 shortlist is notably composed entirely of works published by independent presses, and Heart Lamp, published by Tilted Axis Press, stands as a testament to the quiet revolutions happening in literary translation.
In a statement, the jury chaired by writer Max Porter called the shortlisted books “mind-expanding” and praised their emotional richness and stylistic innovation. The winner will be announced on May 20, 2025, at Tate Modern in London, and the £50,000 prize will be split between the author and translator.
But beyond awards, Heart Lamp is already a winner. It reminds us that stories rooted in regional soil—told in tongues that carry centuries of history, love, and resistance—are not just worthy of translation, but of celebration.
At The Quill, we salute Banu Mushtaq and Deepa Bhasthi—for carrying the flicker of the heart lamp into the global literary sky.
