Portuguese writer born in November 16, 1922 in Azinhaga, Golegã, Portugal. He was the son of farm workers and moved to Lisbon still young and published his first book in 1947, "Terra do Pecado" (Land of Sin), nowadays excluded from his "official" list of works. Soon after moving to Lisbon he becomes a member of the Portuguese Communist Party.
He works for several years as a journalist in the Portuguese newspaper Capital and continues writing, publishing "Deste Mundo e do Outro" (From This World and The Other) in 1971 and "A Bagagem do Viajante" (The Traveller's Luggage) in 1973. He then works in another newspaper, Diário de Lisboa where he wrote about politics during the years of 1972 and 1973. In 1974 he publishes a compilation of some texts written for the Diário de Lisboa: "As Opiniões que o DL Teve" (The Opinions that DL Had). From April to November 1975, during the Portuguese Hot Summer, he works as a vice-director of the Diário de Notícias and in 1976 he publishes "Os Apontamentos" (The Notes).
From 1976 onwards he dedicated all his time exclusively to writing, publishing several works:
Deste Mundo e do Outro, (From This World and The Other), chronicles, 1971
Manual da Pintura e Caligrafia, (Manual of Painting and Calligraphy), novel, 1977
A Bagagem do Viajante, (The Traveller's Luggage), chronicles, 1973
As Opiniões que o DL teve, (The Opinions that DL Had), chronicles, 1974
Os Apontamentos, (The Notes), chronicles, 1976
Objecto Quase, (Object Almost), short story, 1978
A Noite, (The Night), theater play, 1979
Poética dos Cinco Sentidos - O Ouvido, (Poetic of the Five Senses - The Hearing), short story, 1979
Levantado do Chão, (Arise from the Ground), novel, 1980
Que Farei Com Este Livro, (What Shall I do with this Book), theater play, 1980
Viagem a Portugal, (Travel to Portugal), chronicles, 1981
Memorial do Convento, (Baltasar and Blimunda), novel, 1983
O Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis, (The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis), novel, 1984
A Jangada de Pedra, (The Stone Raft), novel, 1986
A Segunda Vida de Francisco de Assis, (The Second Life of Francis of Assisi), theater play, 1987
História do Cerco de Lisboa, (History of the Siege of Lisbon), novel, 1989
O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo, the Gospel According to Jesus Christ, novel, 1991
In Nomine Dei, theater play, 1994
Cadernos de Lanzarote I, (Note-books of Lanzarote I), diary, 1994
Ensaio sobre a Cegueira, (Blindness), novel, 1995
Cadernos de Lanzarote II, (Note-books of Lanzarote II), diary, 1995
Cadernos de Lanzarote III, (Note-books of Lanzarote III), diary, 1996
Cadernos de Lanzarote IV, (Note-books of Lanzarote IV), diary, 1997
Todos os Nomes, (All the Names), novel, 1998
Cadernos de Lanzarote V, (Note-books of Lanzarote V), diary, 1998
O Conto da Ilha Desconhecida, (The Story of the Unknown Island), short story, 1999
Folhas Politicas 1976-1998, (Political Papers 1976-1998), Chronicles, 1999
A Caverna, (The Cave), novel, 2000
A Maior Flor do Mundo, (The Biggest Flower of the World), children's book, 2001
O Homem Duplicado, (The Duplicated Man), novel, 2002
His style of writing is characteristic for its syntax and punctuation as he uses very few full stops and paragraphs, thus writing in a very musical rhythm, clearly inspired in verbal tradition. Saramago himself states that his texts should be read out loud so that during reading the punctuation of the texts comes to being, according to the rhythm of breathing.
In 1998 he was awarded with the Nobel Prize for literature.
English titles are my translations, not the titles of any English edition. If anyone wishes to correct them based on actual English language translations of Saramago, please msg me.