António Alves Redol (29 December 1911 - 29 November 1969) was one of the most influential Portuguese neorealist writers. Redol was born in Vila Franca de Xira, an industrial zone near Lisbon. In 1927 he finished school, and in the next year travelled to Angola (a Portuguese colony at the time), where he stayed for three years. His stay in Angola was mainly unfruitful, but influenced his world view, that later becomes visible in his literature.
His literary activity started in 1936, when Redol became a contributor of O Diabo, a Portuguese newspaper, writing chronicles and tales of his region, Ribatejo. Redol would not become known for his work as a journalist though. Instead, he became known for his novels. In 1939 he published his first book, Gaibéus. According to the author, Gaibéus was not intended as a piece of art, but rather as a report of the way of life of peasants in Ribatejo.
The preoccupation of going beyond a writer of novels by being a reporter the real world is one of the main characteristics of Redol's work. Redol used to get near agricultural fields, such as the rice fields near Tagus river, in order to talk to peasants, and hear their stories and experiences.
In the years following the publication of Gaibéus, Redol published Marés (1941), Avieiros (1943), Fanga (1944), Reinegros (1945), Porto Manso (1946), Ciclo Port-Wine (1953), Barca dos Sete Lemes (1958), Uma Fenda na Muralha (1959), and finally Barranco de Cegos (1962), considered the clymax of his work.
A Man with Seven Names was translated into the English language in 1965 by Linton Lomas Barrett.
Alves Redol died in Lisbon, in 1969.