For decades, writer Banu Mushtaq’s literary circle was confined to the southern Indian state of Karnataka, where she also worked as an activist and lawyer.
That all changed in May, when she was thrust into the global literary spotlight after being awarded the International Booker Prize for Heart Lamp, a collection of 12 powerful short stories that capture the struggles of Muslim women in the country’s south.
“Winning the prize is a deeply humbling experience, not just as a personal milestone for me or to the translator [Deepa Bhasthi], but also as a recognition of voices that have too often remained on the margins,” Mushtaq tells the Post.
