You can't talk about Tolkien and board and role-playing games without mentioning Francesco Nepitello. The individual and collective creations of this Venetian designer, sometimes close to being works of art and led by the classic and breathtaking strategy game War of the Ring as well as others such as the role-playing book The One Ring, have gained even more prestige due to the boom of such offerings during the pandemic, but also because his approaches are based on a deep knowledge - one might even call it scholarship - of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth works. Therefore, and although the aim is to talk about his game-related work, Nepitello's Festival 42 chat will be led by another great Tolkien expert, the English-into-Spanish translator and author of essays on Tolkien Martin Simonson, who is also a writer in his own right and lecturer of English literature at the University of the Basque Country. In summary, we can say the opposite of what Gandalf says to the Balrog in the Mines of Moria: "You shall pass!"

Taking part:

Francesco Nepitello is an Italian game designer who is internationally known for his works set in J.R.R. Tolkien's universe, which include War of the Ring. He has also created others such as Age of Conan, Marvel Heroes and Barcelona: The Rose of Fire.

Moderated by:

Martin Simonson is a translator and J.R.R. Tolkien expert, among others, as well as a lecturer of modern English literature at the University of the Basque Country. He has published essays such as The Lord of the Rings and the Western Narrative Tradition and the novel The Wind of the Wild Lands.

*Event held in collaboration with the DAU Barcelona Festival.