It is a crowning moment for Indian, especially Kannada, literature that Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq has won the International Booker Prize 2025. This landmark achievement marks not only global recognition for a powerful literary voice but also a resounding affirmation of the rich traditions of protest writing in India.

The honour is doubly sweet because the translator, Deepa Bhasthi, shares the prize amount—acknowledging the important role of translation in bringing regional stories to the world stage. This success is also a poignant reminder of what might have been when U.R. Ananthamurthy, one of Kannada’s greatest writers, was shortlisted in 2013 but narrowly missed the prize.

Unlike Mushtaq’s........

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