What We Owe the Dead

Join us from 6pm on Thursday 11th September for a Book Presentation & In Conversation with Stefano Gualeni & Florence Smith Nicholls.

What We Owe the Dead (Set Margins’, 2025) is a gripping detective novel set in a dystopian surveillance society. It is a philosophical fiction that explores the themes of personhood, the cultural significance of games, and our duties to the dead.

In a desperate bid to cool Earth’s atmosphere, humanity has constructed colossal mega-siphons – towering vertical habitats that shelter the last remnants of civilization. High above the scorched Antarctic plains, within one of these engineered refuges, Security Captain Elevii A. Tarkka embarks on a seemingly routine investigation; one that will uncover unsettling truths about the world’s past and present.

In this presentation, Stefano and Florence will explore how What We Owe the Dead uses fictional game archaeology as a tool for worldbuilding, examining how the remnants of digital play inform the culture of this imagined future. The discussion will also delve into the novel’s portrayal of pervasive surveillance, where every monitored action becomes part of an enduring archival record.

THE SPEAKERS:

Stefano Gualeni, a philosopher and game designer, is Full Professor at the Institute of Digital Games, University of Malta. He is the author of two speculative fiction novels, The Clouds (Routledge, 2023) and What We Owe the Dead (Set Margins’, 2025). 

Florence Smith Nicholls is a London-based video game archaeologist and designer who applies archaeological theory and methods to games, preserving contemporary play experiences for the future.