Who Is Banu Mushtaq, Kannada Writer Who Won The International Booker Prize

Banu Mushtaq, an Indian writer, lawyer, and activist, has become the first author writing in Kannada to win the prestigious International Booker Prize for her short story collection Heart Lamp. The anthology is also the first-ever short story collection to win the honour.

Spanning stories written between 1990 and 2023, Heart Lamp is a portrayal of the struggles faced by Muslim women in southern India. The book was selected from six international finalists and praised for its "witty, vivid, colloquial, moving and excoriating" storytelling.

Who Is Banu Mushtaq?

Born and raised in a small town in Karnataka, Banu Mushtaq grew up in a Muslim neighbourhood where she initially studied the Quran. 

At the age of eight, her father, a government employee, enrolled her in a convent school, where the medium of instruction was Kannada, the state's official language. Ms Mushtaq eventually became fluent in Kannada, which later became the language of her literary expression.

She began writing while still in school and chose to pursue higher education, even as many of her peers got married and raised children.

It took several years before her work was published. Her first short story appeared in a local magazine when she was 27, a year after marrying a man of her choosing at the age of 26.

Her early years of marriage were marked by emotional struggle.

"I had always wanted to write but had nothing to write (about) because suddenly, after a love marriage, I was told to wear a burqa and dedicate myself to domestic work," she told Vogue in an interview.

In her book Heart Lamp, the women characters reflect the same resilience she lived through.

By age 29, she was a mother grappling with postpartum depression. 

In an interview with The Week, she spoke about dousing herself in petrol, intending self-immolation.

"Once, in a fit of despair, I poured white petrol on myself, intending to set myself on fire. Thankfully, he [the husband] sensed it in time, hugged me, and took away the matchbox. He pleaded with me, placing our baby at my feet, saying, 'Don't abandon us, '" she told the magazine. "It might have been postpartum depression," she said.

Ms Mushtaq later worked as a reporter for a popular local tabloid, using journalism to amplify stories of social concern.

After a decade in journalism, Ms Mushtaq switched to a career in law, supporting her family while continuing to write.

After the birth of her third daughter, in 1981, Banu Mushtaq experienced another bout of "hysteria," something, she said, her husband quickly recognised. He brought home a handful of medicines along with a copy of the Kannada daily Lankesh Patrike. It was a turning point.

At that time, an incident had made headlines: a female high school teacher from Bijapur was being harassed by a Muslim youth committee for going to the movies. The group had issued a moral diktat that women should not go to the cinema. The injustice enraged Ms Mushtaq. Holding her newborn in her lap, she penned a powerful article questioning why only Muslim men were seen as having the right to recreation.

She sent it to Lankesh Patrike, and within days, it was published. That moment, she said, was "thrilling" and marked the beginning of her public writing journey.

She was associated with the 'Bandaya movement', which used literature and activism to highlight social and economic injustices.

Her bold, honest writing often made her a target, especially after publicly supporting women's right to pray in mosques.

In 2000, she received threatening phone calls and a fatwa was issued against her. A fatwa is a religious ruling or opinion in Islam, issued by a qualified scholar.

She also claimed a man tried to attack her with a knife, though her husband overpowered him.

Her work has earned her several honours, including the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award and the Daana Chintamani Attimabbe Award.