João Antônio Ferreira Filho (January 27, 1937 – October 31, 1996) was a Brazilian journalist and short story writer, who became known for portraying the lives of marginalized people inhabiting the outskirts of large cities, such as bandits, workers, vagrants and malandros.
[1] Born into a family of small shopkeepers in a suburb of São Paulo, João Antônio worked in low-paid jobs before releasing his first collection of short stories, Malagueta, Perus e Bacanaço, in 1963, for which he won several awards: two Jabuti Prizes (best new author and best book of short stories), the Prêmio Fabio Prado and the Prêmio Municipal da Cidade de São Paulo.
Antônio wrote fifteen books in total, but he always refused to participate in ceremonies and to join groups and literary academies, only accepting invitations to speak at schools and universities.
His collected archives were donated by his family and are housed in the CEDAP (Centro de Documentação e Pesquisa-Center of Documentation and Research) at the São Paulo State University campus in Assis.
[3] In 1977, the title story of Malagueta, Perus e Bacanaço, about three pool players from the underground of São Paulo, was turned into a film called O Jogo da Vida, directed by Maurice Capovila and starring Lima Duarte.