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The
award was announced by bestselling Booker Prize-longlisted
author Max Porter in his role as chair of the five-member voting
panel, at a ceremony at London’s Tate Modern.
It is the first time the award has been given to a collection of
short stories. Bhasthi is the first Indian translator — and
ninth female translator — to win the prize since it took on its
current form in 2016. Mushtaq is the sixth female author to be
awarded the prize since then.
Written in Kannada, which is spoken by around 65 million people,
primarily in southern India, Porter praised the “radical” nature
of the translation, adding that “It’s been a joy” to listen to
the evolving appreciation of the stories by members of the jury.
“These beautiful, busy, life-affirming stories rise from
Kannada, interspersed with the extraordinary socio-political
richness of other languages and dialects," said Porter. ”It
speaks of women’s lives, reproductive rights, faith, caste,
power and oppression.”
The book, which beat five other finalists, comprises stories
written from 1990 to 2023. They were selected and curated by
Bhasthi, who was keen to preserve the multilingual nature of
southern India in her translation.
Mushtaq, who is a lawyer and activist as well as writer, told a
short list reading event on Sunday that the stories “are about
women – how religion, society and politics demand unquestioning
obedience from them, and in doing so, inflict inhumane cruelty
upon them, turning them into mere subordinates.”
The 50,000-pound ($66,000) prize money is to be divided equally
between author and translator. Each is presented with a trophy
too.
The International Booker Prize is awarded every year. It is run
alongside the Booker Prize for English-language fiction, which
will be handed out in the fall.
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