Luigi Pirandello (28 June 1867 - 10 December 1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for his almost magical power to turn psychological analysis into good theatre. Pirandello’s works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written in Sicilian. Pirandello’s tragic farces are often seen as forerunners of the Theatre of the Absurd. In 1893, he wrote his first important work Marta Ajala, which was published in 1901 with the title L'Esclusa. In 1894, he published his first collection of short stories, Amori Senza Amore.