Odysseus Elytis was born Odysseus Alepoudelis in the city of Heraklion, on the island of Crete, Greece on November 2, 1911. In 1935, he published his first poem in the magazine Nea Grammata (New Culture). His first volume of poetry, Prosanatolizmi (Orientations), was published in 1936. His other works include Sun the First, The Monogram, The Oxopetra Elegies, and Maria Nefeli. To Axion Esti (Worthy It Is) won the National Book Award for Poetry in 1960. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1979. He died on March 18, 1996.