Benyamin

Benyamin (born Benny Daniel in 1971) is an Indian novelist and short story writer in Malayalam from Njettur, 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, JCB Prize for Literature gives 25 lakhs to the winner. If the winning work is a translation, the translator gets an additional 10 lakh.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 richest 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.