BIO

Elana Benjamin is a Jewish-Australian writer of Indian-Iraqi heritage.

She is the author of the cookbook Indian-Jewish Food: Recipes and Stories from the Backstreets of Bondi (Sydney Jewish Museum, 2024) and the memoir-history My Mother's Spice Cupboard: A Journey from Baghdad to Bombay to Bondi (2012, Hybrid Publishers). 

Elana is also a contributor to two anthologies: Ruptured: Jewish Women in Australia Reflect on Life Post-October 7 (2025, Lamm Jewish Library of Australia) and Growing Up Indian in Australia (2024, Black Inc.)

Elana's writing has been published widely including in Good Weekend, Sunday Life, the Sydney Morning Herald, SBS Voices, The Jewish Independent, Kveller, Tablet Magazine, Debrief Daily, Essential Kids and the Jewish Book Council blog.

She is a co-founder of Sephardi Mizrahi Voices Australia, an organisation which seeks to raise awareness of the traditions, culture and history of Jews from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, North African and Iran.

Elana holds an Arts/Law degree with a history major from the University of New South Wales. She lives in Sydney with her husband and their two children.