Bio-bibliography
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Biobibliographical Notes
José Saramago was born in 1922 to a family of farmers in the little village of Azinhaga (Ribatejo) north of Lisbon. For financial reasons he abandoned his high-school studies and trained as a mechanic. After trying different jobs in the civil service, he worked for a publishing company for twelve years and then for newspapers, at one time as assistant editor of Diário de Notícias, a position he was forced to leave after the political events in November 1975. In 1969 he joined the then illegal Communist Party, in which however he has always adopted a critical standpoint. Between 1975 and 1980 Saramago supported himself as a translator but since his literary successes in the 1980s he has devoted himself to his own writing. His international breakthrough came in 1982 with the blasphemous and humorous love story “Baltasar and Blimunda”, a novel set in 18th century Portugal. Since 1992 he has been living on Lanzarote, the northeasternmost of the Canaries. Saramago’s oeuvre totals 30 works, and comprises not only prose but also poetry, essays and drama. His awards include Prémio Cidade de Lisboa 1980, Prémio PEN Club Português 1983 and 1984, Prémio da Crítica da Associação Portuguesa 1986, Grande Prémio de Romance e Novela 1991, Prémio Vida Literária 1993, Prémio Camões 1995.
| Poetry |
| Os poemas possiveis. – Portugália Ed. 1966. Ed. Caminho 1982 |
| Provavelmente alegria, – Livros Horizonte 1970. Ed. Caminho 1985 |
| O ano de 1993. Ed. Futura 1975. – Ed. Caminho 1987 |
| Prose |
| Manual de Pintura e Caligrafia: romance. – Moraes Ed. 1977. Ed. Caminho, 1984 |
| Objecto quase. – Moraes Ed. 1978. Ed. Caminho, 1984 |
| Levantado do Chão: romance. – Ed. Caminho, 1980 |
| Memorial do Convento: romance. – Ed. Caminho, 1982, Círculo de Leitores, 1984 |
| O ano da morte de Ricardo Reis: romance. – Ed. Caminho, 1984 |
| A jangada de pedra: romance. – Ed. Caminho 1986, Círculo de Leitores, 1987 |
| História do cerco de Lisboa: romance. – Ed. Caminho, 1989 |
| O evangelho segundo Jesus Cristo: romance. – Ed. Caminho, 1991 |
| Ensaio sobre a cegueira: romance. – Ed. Caminho, 1995 |
| Todos os nomes: romance. – Ed. Caminho, 1997 |
| Terra do Pecado : romance. 1947. 2. ed. – Lisboa : Caminho, 1997* |
| O conto da Ilha Desconhecida / desenhos: Pedro Cabrita Reis. – Lisboa : Assírio & Alvim, 1997* |
| A caverna : romance. – Lisboa : Caminho, 2000* |
| O homem duplicado : romance. – Lisboa : Caminho, 2002* |
| Ensaio sobre a Lucidez : romance. – Lisboa : Caminho, 2004* |
| As intermitências da morte : romance. – Lisboa : Caminho, 2005* |
| Essays |
| Deste mundo e do outro. – Ed Arcádia 1971. Ed Caminho, 1985 |
| A bagagem do viajante: crónicas. – Ed. Futura 1973. Ed. Caminho, 1986 |
| As opiniões que o DL teve. – Seara Nova Ed. Futura, 1974 |
| Os apontamentos: crónicas políticas. – Seara Nova, 1976, Ed. Caminho, 1990 |
| Viagem a Portugal. Círculo de Leitores 1981., – Ed. Caminho, 1984 |
| Folhas políticas : 1976-1998. – Lisboa : Caminho, 1999* |
| Discursos de Estocolmo. – Lisboa : Caminho, 1999* |
| Drama |
| A noite. – Ed. Caminho 1979 |
| Que farei com este livro? – Ed. Caminho 1980 |
| A segunda vida de Francisco de Assis. – Ed. Caminho 1987 |
| In nomine Dei, 1993. |
| Don Giovanni ou O dissoluto absolvido : [teatro]. – Lisboa : Caminho, 2005* |
| Don Giovanni ou O dissoluto absolvido : teatro. – Lisboa : Caminho, 2005* |
| Diaries |
| Cadernos de Lanzarote : diário. Vol. 1-5. – Lisboa : Caminho, 1994-1998. 5 vol.* |
| Critical studies |
| Lopes, O., Os sinais e os sentidos. Literatura portuguesa do século XX. – Lisboa 1986 |
| Seixo, M. Maria, O essencial sobre José Saramago. – Imprensa Nacional 1987 |
| Silva, T.C. Cerdeira da, Entre a história e a ficção. Uma saga de portugueses. – Dom Quixote 1989 |
| Losada, B., Eine iberische Stimme. – Liber, 2,1, 1990,3 |
| Kaufman, Helena I., Ficção histórica portuguesa da pós-revolução. – Madison 1991 |
| Bastos, Baptista, José Saramago: Aproximação a um retrato. – Dom Quijote 1996 |
| Costa, Horácio, José Saramago: O Período Formativo. – Ed. Caminho 1998 |
| Reis, Carlos, Diálogos com José Saramago.– Lisboa : Caminho, 1998* |
| Madruga, Maria da Conceição, A paixão segundo José Saramago : a paixão do verbo e o verbo da paixão. – Porto : Campos das Letras, 1998* |
| In English |
| Baltasar and Blimunda. Translated from the Portuguese by Giovanni Pontiero. – New York : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, cop. 1987 ; London : Cape, 1988. – Uniform Title: Memorial do convento |
| The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis. Translated by Giovanni Pontiero. – San Diego : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991 ; London : Harvill, 1992. – Uniform Title: O ano da morte de Ricardo Reis |
| The Gospel According to Jesus Christ. Translated from the Portuguese by Giovanni Pontiero. – London : Harvill, 1993 ; New York : Harcourt Brace & Co., 1994. – Uniform Title: O Evangelho segundo Jesus Cristo |
| Manual of Painting and Calligraphy: a Novel. Translated from the Portuguese by Giovanni Pontiero. – Manchester : Carcanet, 1994. – Uniform Title: Manual de pintura e caligrafia |
| The Stone Raft. Translated from the Portuguese by Giovanni Pontiero. – London : Harvill, 1994 ; New York : Harcourt Brace, cop. 1995. – Uniform Title: Jangada de pedra |
| The History of the Siege of Lisbon. Translated from the Portuguese by Giovanni Pontiero. – New York : Harcourt Brace, 1996 ; London : Harvill, 1996. – Uniform Title: História do cerco de Lisboa |
| Blindness. Translated from the Portuguese by Giovanni Pontiero. – London : Harvill, 1997. Thorndike, Me. : Thorndike Press, 1999. – Uniform Title : Ensaio sobre a cegueira |
| Baltasar & Blimunda. Translated from the Portuguese by Giovanni Pontiero. – London : Harvill, 1998. – Uniform Title: Memorial do convento. Note : The English text as originally publ. embodied a number of editorial amendments which the author requested be overruled; the labour of reinstating the text in accordance with the author’s wishes was undertaken by Giovanni Pontiero |
| All the Names. Translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa. – New York : Harcourt, 1999 ; London : Harvill, 1999. – Uniform Title: Todos os nomes |
| The Tale of the Unknown Island. Illustrated by Peter Sís ; translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa. – London : Harvill, 1999 ; New York : Harcourt Brace, cop. 1999. – Uniform Title: Conto da ilha desconhecida* |
| Journey to Portugal : In Pursuit of Portugal’s History and Culture. Translated from the Portuguese and with notes by Amanda Hopkinson and Nick Caistor. – London : Harvill, 2000 ; New York : Harcourt, 2000. – Uniform Title: Viagem a Portugal* |
| The Cave. Translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa. – London : Harvill, 2002 ; New York : Harcourt, cop. 2002. – Uniform Title: A Caverna* |
| The Double. Translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa. – London : Harvill, 2004 ; Orlando : Harcourt, cop. 2004. – Uniform Title: O Homem duplicado* |
| Seeing. Translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa. – London : Harvill, 2006* |
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