In April this year, Danilo Kiš became the first writer from south-east Europe to have his work published as a Penguin Modern Classic. 'The Encyclopedia of the Dead' is Kiš's last published book, and has been revised and introduced by Mark Thompson, whose biography of Kiš - Birth Cerfificate - was published by Cornell University Press in 2013. Thompson gives us an introduction to the life and career of this last great Yugoslav writer, and also some insight into the fascinating process of editing and fine-tuning the original translation.