BENGALURU: The anthology of short stories, ‘Heart Lamp’, which won the International Booker Prize, will be translated into 35 global languages and 12 Indian languages, said author Banu Mushtaq at a felicitation organised by the Karnataka Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), Bahuroopi Publications and Gandhi Foundation, here on Wednesday.
She said the stories will be made into movies, for which the rights have been acquired. “So much material is within us and this has to be made familiar to others. We have read their stories and novels and we practised their way of life for so long. But now, there is a need to familiarise them with our way of life, our ideologies and our characters and situations,” she added.
Congratulating her, KV Prabhakar, media advisor to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, said, “At a time when disruptive forces, fanaticism and fundamentalism are destroying the world, I appreciate that the Booker International Prize has been awarded to Banu Mushtaq for her fusion of humanity and Indianness.”
KUWJ president Shivanand Tagadur said, “The award brings a lot of pride to Kannada and to us as she was first a journalist and later became a lawyer, an activist and everything that she is today. I feel that being a journalist for a decade fuelled her power and courage.”
Writer, lawyer and activist Banu Mushtaq scripted history by becoming the first Kannada author to win the International Booker Prize with her anthology Heart Lamp. This is also the first time that a short story collection has won the prestigious prize.