Indian author Banu Mushtaq and translator Deepa Bhasthi won the International Booker Prize for fiction Tuesday for “Heart Lamp,” a collection of 12 short stories written over a period of more than 30 years and which chronicle the everyday lives and struggles of women in southern India.

Banu Mushtaq’s “Heart Lamp,” translated by Deepa Bhasthi, had received little notice in Britain or the United States before Tuesday. Now, it’s won the major award for translated fiction.

Banu Mushtaq, a trailblazing writer, lawyer and activist from Karnataka, has become the first Kannada author to win the prestigious International Booker Prize for her short story collection ‘Heart Lamp’.