About the Author

Gjergj Fishta (1871-1940) was the greatest and most influential figure of Albanian literature in the first half of the twentieth century. Lauded and celebrated up until the Second World War as the 'national poet of Albania' and as the 'Albanian Homer,' he was to fall into sudden oblivion when the communists took power in November 1944. He is the author of thirty-seven literary publications, including, most notably, the long-banned national epic "The Highland Lute." Robert Elsie is a leading specialist in Albanian affairs and is author of numerous books, including Albanian Literature: A Short History (I.B.Tauris and the Centre for Albanian Studies) and Early Albania: A Reader of Historical Texts, Songs of the Frontier Warriors, with Janice Mathie-Heck, Historical Dictionary of Albania, and Historical Dictionary of Kosova.