Join us for a book discussion on HEART LAMP: SELECTED STORIES by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi. The book has been longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025.
The event will feature a conversation between Banu Mushtaq and Deepa Bhasthi, moderated by writer and editor Kavya Murthy. Together, they will explore stories of identity, everyday lives, and translation. This discussion offers an opportunity to engage with regional literature and understand the complexities of translating cultural narratives. Attendees will gain insights into the socio-political contexts of the stories and the collaborative efforts involved in bringing them to a broader audience.
Here are the details of the book discussion:
Date: 18th April, 2025
Time: 5:30 PM onwards
Location: Champaca Bookstore, Vasanth Nagar, Bangalore.
Since there is limited seating, we recommend you book your spot soon.
About the Book:
We invite you to a discussion on HEART LAMP: SELECTED STORIES, a collection of twelve stories by Banu Mushtaq that explores the lives of women and girls in Muslim communities in southern India. Originally published in Kannada between 1990 and 2023, these stories reflect the author's experiences as a journalist and lawyer advocating for women's rights and opposing caste and religious oppression.
In conversation with:
Author- Banu Mushtaq is a writer, activist, and lawyer from Karnataka, India. She began writing within the progressive protest literary circles in southwestern India during the 1970s and 1980s. As one of the few women in the Bandaya Sahitya movement, which was critical of the caste system, she has authored six short story collections, a novel, an essay collection, and a poetry collection.
Translator- Deepa Bhasthi, a writer and translator based in Kodagu, southern India. Her columns, essays and cultural criticism have been published in India and internationally. Her translation of this collection has been recognized with the English PEN Translates Award.
Moderator- Kavya Murthy, a writer, editor, reader and curator who has worked with Champaca Bookstore from the very beginning. She likes urban sketching, tango, dragons in fiction and queer writing.