Page 3 - A Literary - Based Resume - BENNY ARNAS

BENNY ARNAS

Overview

Benny Arnas (34) is the muslim author of 24 books across genres—novels, short stories, poems, essays,
travel records, play scripts, and biography—who achieved more than 10 awards in literary and culture in a
decade of his creative process. For him, thorough research is the opening route to productive creativity. He
loves adventure, meets new people, procoeenated, and requires him to write at least an essay each day.
Despite writing at the age of 25 years (2008), Benny accelerated through his short stories and essays spread
across Kompas, Tempo, Republika, Jawa Pos, Media Indonesia, Horison, etc. in two years of his creative process.
Three of his books will be published this year; Cinta Menggerakkan Segala (novel, Republika), Hujan Turun dari
Bawah (poetry book, Grasindo), and Semua Burung Berjalan Kaki di Auckland / All Birds Walking in Auckland
which is a collection of cultural residency travel records in New Zealand written in bahasa and english
(November-December 2016). Benny also followed the residency of Seniman Mengajar (The Artist Teaching
Program) as a play script writer in the isolated-village of Panca Mukti, Bengkulu (August-September 2017).
He wrote and published Panca Mukti Setelah Petang (Kemdikbud, 2017), a play script that records the heroic
journeys of the rst Javanese transmigrants to live in Central Bengkulu.

Islam and his hometown locality, Lubuklinggau, are always present in his works. Novel Curriculum Vitae
took him to become the winner of the Novel Competition of Jakarta Arts Council 2016. His short story Air
Akar got rid of 14.000 participated-short stories in Tulis Nusantara Writing Competition to take him to be
awarded as Best Indonesian Fiction Writer by the Ministry of Toyrism and Creative Economy (2012). Through
bennyinstitute, the cultural institution he founded in 2012. Benny organized the bennyinstitute Writing Class,
bennyinstitute Acting Class, bennyinstitute Story Sharing Class, and directed a number of art performances.
These classes have graduated hundreds of alumni who work as writers, journalists, anchors, teachers,
broadcasters, actors, and artist in across genres. Some chose to join bennyinstitute as volunteers. In the last
three years, Benny has edited 65 books and become producer of annual national prestigious events;
Lubuklinggau Writing Festival and Lubuklinggau Short Movie Festival.