Banu Mushtaq is a well-known Kannada writer and a social activist from Karnataka. She has won numerous awards for her literary works and social activism, including the International Women’s Award for Radio and Television, Karnataka Women Writers’ Association’s Gudibandde Poornima Best Poetess Award, Karnataka Women’s Writers’ Association’s H.V. Savitramma Dattinidhi Award, Karnataka Government’s Rajyotsava award for Literature, Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Award, Akhil Bharatiya Jain Women’s Mahastambhshekha Award, Karnataka Kalpavalli Award and B. Sarojadevi Award. The Kannada film Haseena, based on a story of a Muslim woman written by her and directed by the well-known Girish Kasaravalli, won many national awards and was screened in international film festivals. Author of many short-story collections, novels and poetry anthologies, Banu has served as member, Karnataka Sahitya Akademi; advisory board member, Central Sahitya Akademi, state secretary, Kannada Sahitya Parishad; and secretary, District Committee of Kannada Developmental Authority. The Karnataka State Information and Publicity Department has produced a documentary on Banu Mushtaq’s life and achievements. Banu Mushtaq lives in Hassan, a small town in Karnataka, where she works as an advocate and remains involved in social movements.