Diego Marani was born in Ferrara in 1959. He works as a senior linguist for the European Union in Brussels. Every week he writes a column for a Swiss newspaper about current affairs in Europanto, a language he invented. He is the author of a collection of short stories in Europanto, Las Adventures des Inspector Cabillot, and five other novels, including The Last of the Vostyachs, to be published in Australia and New Zealand in early 2013.