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Andrey Kurkov's cult novels Death and the Penguin and Penguin Lost chart the plight of Viktor, a freelance journalist desperately trying to make ends meet, and his penguin Misha; an odyssey involving confrontations with the Russian mafia, Chechnyan guerillas and traffickers of all sorts. This is a rare opportunity to hear Andrey Kurkov reveal the truth behind his violently black comedy. The Kiev-based writer will be discussing life in a post-Soviet republic with Misha Glenny, former BBC Central Europe Correspondent and acclaimed author of The Rebirth of History, The Fall of Yugoslavia and The Balkans. Misha has visited the Ukraine and his father translated some of Kiev's best-known authors but he has yet to meet a penguin.