Journalist, lawyer, author and activist Banu Mushtaq, whose "Heart Lamp" won the International Booker Prize, said her stories of Muslim women from traditional south Indian families had resonated with the global audience.

Banu Mushtaq’s “Heart Lamp” has won the International Booker Prize, the first collection of short fiction to do so. Translated by Deepa Bhasthi, it is also the first book originally published in Kannada — the official language of the author’s home state of Karnataka, in India — to win the award.

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.