Benjamin Abdala Júnior

Benjamin Abdala Júnior (born 1943 in Uchoa, São Paulo) is a Brazilian writer, scholar, and literary critic. His first book, A Escrita Neo-Realista, was published in 1981. He published the book Antologia da Poesia Brasileira - Realismo/Parnasianismo in 1985. He has written over 40 published books and hundreds of chapters in book collection, articles in newspapers and literary magazines. He has worked with the main Brazilian Scientific Agencies (CNPq, CAPES, FAPESP) evaluating scholarships and grants requested by researchers from the main Brazilian universities. Benjamin has also lived in Portugal and France, where he expanded his research and gave lectures on Comparative, Portuguese and African Literatures. He has been invited to the main universities in Africa, China, United States, Canada, France, England, Portugal, Austria, Tchecoslovaquia, Russia and Chile, giving lectures on African Literatures of Portuguese Speaking Countries, Comparative Literature, Neo-realism in Portugal and Brazil, among other subjects. Grandson of Lebanese immigrants, he received a Merit Medal celebrating 130 years of Middle Eastern Immigration to South America from BibliASPA - Biblioteca e Centro de Pesquisa América do Sul - Países Árabes. He has 3 children and 3 grandchildren, and lives in São Paulo. He is retired from University of São Paulo after 35 years of contribution as professor and administrator, but he is still actively involved in the Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras and Ciencias Humanas (College of Philosophy, Language and Humanities) as a researcher.