Jump to content

Banu Mushtaq

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Banu Mushtaq
Born (1948-04-03) 3 April 1948 (age 77)
Hassan, Mysore State, Dominion of India
(now Hassan, Karnataka, India)
OccupationWriter, activist and lawyer
Notable worksHeart Lamp (translated by Deepa Bhasthi)
Notable awardsInternational Booker Prize (2025)

Banu Mushtaq (born 3 April 1948) is an Indian Kannada-language writer, activist, and lawyer from Karnataka. She is best known for Heart Lamp, a selection of her short stories translated by Deepa Bhasthi, which won the International Booker Prize in 2025. She has published six short story collections, a novel, an essay collection, and a poetry collection. Her work has been translated into Urdu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, and English.

Personal life and activism

[edit]

Banu Mushtaq was born into a Muslim family in Hassan, Karnataka, on 3 April 1948.[1][2] When she was eight years old, Mushtaq was enrolled in a Kannada-language missionary school in Shivamogga, on the condition that she must learn "to read and write Kannada in six months"; she exceeded expectations by beginning to write after a few days of school.[3]

In contrast to community expectations, she attended university and married for love at the age of 26.[4]

She was a reporter for the newspaper Lankesh Patrike[4] and, for some months, she worked for All India Radio in Bengaluru.[2]

Since the 1980s, Mushtaq has been involved in activist movements working to undermine "fundamentalism and social injustices" in Karnataka.[5]

In 2000, a three-month "social boycott" was announced against Mushtaq and her family in response to her "advocacy of the right of Muslim women to enter mosques".[5] During that time, she received menacing telephone calls and a man attempted to stab her but was thwarted by her husband.[6]

In the early 2000s, Mushtaq joined the civil society group Komu Souhardha Vedike in protesting efforts to prevent Muslims from visiting a syncretic shrine in Baba Budangiri, Chikmagalur district.[5]

Mushtaq has supported the right of Muslim students to wear hijab in schools, which has been challenged in Karnataka.[5]

She speaks Kannada, Hindi, Dakhni Urdu, and English.[4]

Writing

[edit]

Mushtaq was interested in writing from a young age, but did not become a writer until the age of 29, as a new mother suffering from postpartum depression. Mushtaq turned to writing to explore her feelings and experiences. Much of her writing looks at women's issues.[4]

Mushtaq has published six collections of short stories, a novel, a collection of essays and a collection of poetry.[7] Her work has been translated into Urdu, Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam, as well as, very recently, English.[8] Her story Karinaagaragalu was adapted into the 2003 Kannada film Hasina by Girish Kasaravalli.[4]

Heart Lamp

[edit]

Mushtaq's first full-length book to be translated into English was Heart Lamp: Selected Stories (published by And Other Stories, 2025), a selection of women-centred stories set in Muslim communities in southern India. The translator, Deepa Bhasthi, began translating Mushtaq's work into English in 2022.[4] Bhasthi selected the volume's twelve stories from the six collections Mushtaq had published between 1990 and 2023.[9][10][3]

In May 2025, Heart Lamp won the 2025 International Booker Prize.[11] Mushtaq was the first Kannada-language writer to have their work nominated for the prize.[3] Deepa Bhasthi was the first Indian translator to win the prize and this was the first short story collection ever to win the prize.[12]

The stories in the collection reflect Mushtaq's life as a journalist and lawyer, with a focus on women's rights and resistance to caste and religious injustice in her part of the country.[1]

Chair of the Booker International judges Max Porter said that although the stories are feminist, and "contain extraordinary accounts of patriarchal systems and resistance", first and foremost they are "beautiful accounts of everyday life and particularly the lives of women".[9] The Guardian commented that the "tone varies from quiet to comic, but the vision is consistent" and called it a "wonderful collection".[13]

Awards and recognition

[edit]

Publications

[edit]
  • ಹಸೀನಾ ಮತ್ತು ಇತರ ಕಥೆಗಳು [Hasīna mattu itara kathegaḷu] (compilation, Abhiruchi Prakashana, 2013) ISBN 9788178770611, OCLC 896807078
    • Haseena and Other Stories (translated by Deepa Bhasthi, 2024)
  • Heart Lamp: Selected Stories (compilation, translated by Deepa Bhasthi, And Other Stories, 2025), ISBN 9781916751163

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b The Hindu Staff (21 May 2025). "Who is Banu Mushtaq? Kannada writer who scripted history with 2025 International Booker Prize win". The Hindu. Bangalore. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Muslim patriarchs – I prefer to call them Muslim fascist forces: Banu Mushtaque (interview)". New Age Islam. Interviewed by Yoginder Sikand. 17 August 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  3. ^ a b c Sathish, G. T. (4 March 2025). "Firebrand writer Banu Mushtaq, and her International Booker Prize-longlisted anthology, Heart Lamp". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Sharma, Kanika (1 March 2025). "Banu Mushtaq wrote Heart Lamp for 33 years. Now, it's nominated for the International Booker Prize". Vogue India. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d Biradar, Basav (17 March 2022). "'In Karnataka, Cultural Practices Basavanna Fought Against Are Getting Reintroduced'". article-14.com. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  6. ^ Mollan, Cherylann (21 May 2025). "India's Banu Mushtaq makes history with International Booker win". BBC News. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  7. ^ "Authors: Banu Mushtaq". The Booker Prizes. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  8. ^ "Authors: Banu Mushtaq". And Other Stories. 4 December 2024. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  9. ^ a b Knight, Lucy (20 May 2025). "'Radical translation' of Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq wins International Booker prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  10. ^ "An interview with Banu Mushtaq and Deepa Bhasthi, author and translator of Heart Lamp". The Booker Prizes. 14 March 2025. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  11. ^ Marshall, Alex (20 May 2025). "Banu Mushtaq's Heart Lamp, a Story Collection, Wins International Booker Prize". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  12. ^ "Banu Mushtaq and Deepa Bhasthi have won the International Booker Prize 2025 for Heart Lamp, the first collection of short stories to win the prize". The Booker Prizes. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  13. ^ Self, John (18 May 2025). "A Danish Groundhog Day or tales of millennial angst… What should win this year's International Booker?". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  14. ^ a b Creamer, Ella (25 February 2025). "All 13 writers on International Booker longlist are first-time nominees". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  15. ^ "Collection of Banu Mushtaq's short stories translated into English wins PEN English Translate award". The Hindu. 18 July 2024. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  16. ^ Marshall, Alex (8 April 2025). "International Booker Prize Shortlist: 6 Books to Talk About". New York Times. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
  17. ^ Raj, Gayathri V (21 May 2025). "Booker Prize for Banu Mushtaq: Celebrations in Hassan as Kannada Author Wins Prestigious Award". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Banu_Mushtaq&oldid=1295199355"