On June 13th, 2019, Arnon Grunberg gave his lecture More dead souls [Meer dode zielen] at the forensic psychiatry symposium 'Verder Kijken, Verder Komen'. His talk unpacked a comparison between the character Chichikov in Gogol's Dead Souls and the practice of preventative incarceration in the Dutch penal system.

An abridged version was subsequently published in the Letter&Geest supplement of Trouw on July 6th.