Benyamin

Benyamin (born Benny Daniel in 1971) is an Indian novelist and short story writer in Malayalam language from Nhettur, Kulanada, near Pandalam of the south Indian state of Kerala. He lived in the Kingdom of Bahrain from 1992 to 2013, before returning to Kerala. His works appear regularly in Malayalam publications in Kerala.

Goat Days (Aadujeevitham), his most famous novel, portrays the life of an Indian labourer in Saudi Arabia. It is used as a textbook at Kerala University, Calicut University, Bharathiar University, Pondicherry University and 10th standard for Kerala State syllabus.

Jasmine Days (Juggernaut Books, 2018), translated by Shahnaz Habib won the inaugural JCB Prize for Literature, India's richest literary prize. It was originally written in Malayalam and translated by Shahnaz Habib, and is a “brilliant and intense novel”, jury chairperson Vivek Shanbag (author Ghachar Ghochar said while announcing the most expensive literary award in the country. The book tells the story of a young woman Sameera Parvin who moves to a middle eastern city and find herself in the middle of a revolution. It revolves around the Jasmine Revolution that sprang up in December 2010 and was quelled by January 2011.

Awards and honours

• 2009 Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award, winner, Aadujeevitham
• 2012 Man Asian Literary Prize, longlist, Goat Days
• 2013 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, shortlist, Goat Days
• 2015 Padmaprabha Literary Award
• 2018 JCB Prize for Literature, winner, Jasmine Days
• 2018 Crossword Book Award for Indian language translation, winner ‘’Jasmine days’’
• 2019 Muttathu Varkey Award