From Salman Rushdie to Banu Mushtaq: Every Booker win by an Indian-origin author

As the spotlight turns to tomorrow’s announcement, it is a fitting moment to look back at the Indian-origin authors who have left a remarkable imprint on The Booker Prize and the International Booker Prize, which together represent one of the highest tiers of literary recognition in the English-speaking world.

Here is a comprehensive look at the books by Indian-origin authors that have won either the Booker Prize or the International Booker Prize:

Heart Lamp: Selected Stories by Banu Mushtaq (2025)

Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq won the International Booker Prize in 2025.

Translated from the Kannada to English by Deepa Bhasthi, Heart Lamp is the first short story collection to win International Booker Prize in 2025. Written over a period of almost three decades, the book is a collection of 12-short stories. Each story focuses on struggles of Muslim women in southern India. Mushtaq spent years as a journalist and lawyer fighting for women rights, drawing inspiration from her interactions, she addressed the injustice and gender inequality faced by women as they fulfil society’s unending demands of unquestionable obedience. 

Ret Samadhi by Geetanjali Shree (2022)

The author-translator duo Geetanjali Shree and Daisy Rockwell won the International Booker Prize for Ret Samadhi in 2022.

Translated from the Hindi to English by Daisy Rockwell, Ret Samadhi (Tomb of Sand) won the 2022 International Booker prize.  After the death of her husband, an 80-year-old woman slips into depression, resurfacing with a new outlook for life. She ditches her conventional saree, becomes friends with a transgender named Rosie and sets on a journey back to Pakistan to encounter her deep instilled childhood trauma of partition. Her journey forms the core of the story, a deep reverberating seriousness of life long wounds caused by the 1947 partition. Told from multiple perspectives, the story’s delivery is playful and full of humour and world play. 

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (2008)

Indian author Aravind Adiga’s book, The White Tiger, won the Booker Prize.

A captivating journey from slums to Bangalore’s entrepreneurial culture, the book is a critique of the severe caste discrimination, poverty and corruption prevalent in India. Hailing from a small town, Balram is now a millionaire entrepreneur in Bangalore. In a letter, he narrates how all his life he’s witnessed class disparity until he’s recruited as the driver to a wealthy landlord. When tragedy strikes, he finds himself victim to the disparity again, resorting to murder of his employer and thus begins his journey to money. 

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (2006)

Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss won the Booker Prize.

In the foothills of Mount Kanchenjunga lives an Indian culture opposing retired judge Jemubhai Patel along with his orphaned granddaughter Sai. His cook’s son Biju is an illegal immigrant in New York trying to stay one step ahead of the immigration services at all times. The judge and Biju’s exile from their own cultures and core belief in the superiority of western way of life represents how colonialism disrupted identity for all generations. 

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (1997)

Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things won the 1997 Booker Prize.

The book follows twins Estha and Rahel and how one event changes the entire course of life. Separated as children after tragedy strikes, the twins reconnect after 23 years. With casteism, British colonialism and the unwritten, unjustified ‘Love Laws’ as the central plot themes, the story strongly questions who we can love and to what extent is acceptable by society. 

Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (1981)

Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children won the Booker Prize.

The fate of two boys born on the midnight of 15th August 1947 rewrites when the midwife swaps their name tags. Saleem grows up to be raised by a well-to do Muslim couple and Shiva becomes the son of a Hindu street performer. Growing up Saleem discovers his telepathic powers connecting him to the children born in the same hour he also gains a heightened sense of smell even the emotions. Midnight’s Children narrates the story of India draped in the metaphor of Saleem’s story. 

In a Free State by V S Naipaul (1971)

VS Naipaul won the Booker Prize in 1971 for his book ‘In a free state’.

Born in Trinidad to Indian-descended parents, VS Naipaul won the Booker Prize in 1971 for In a Free State. The book follows three stories, each a take on the struggles of immigrants and their attempts to belong in alien lands. ‘One Out Of Many’, ‘Tell Me Who To Kill’ and ‘In A Free State’. The central plotline follows a British Civil servant and his wife as they drive in an unnamed African country taking on a dangerous journey into the land of violence and disturbance. 

Through disturbing characters like a bullied tramp, humiliated cousin, and more, Naipaul explores the dangers of racism, alienation and dislocation. 

(The author is an intern with indianexpress.com)