#3 The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

Language matters. It is the vehicle for stories that teach us about the world and helps us define our place. It is a bridge between ideologies, emotions, cultures, and art. It is also the hard cement of the cultural foundations upon which our modern world has been built.  

Packed within language is power, love, bias, class structure, assumptions, dreams, and law. So, what happens when only one group (eg, men) are the keepers of language?  

Set during the height of the women’s suffrage movement and with the Great War looming, The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams reveals a lost narrative hidden between the lines of a history written by men - and the power of that written history to elevate or repress the people it intentionally does not represent.

 As she grows up, the book's protagonist, Esme, realizes that words and meanings relating to women’s and common folks’ experiences often go unrecorded. And so she begins in earnest to search out words for her own dictionary: the Dictionary of Lost Words. To do so, she must leave the sheltered world of the university and venture out to meet the people whose words will fill those pages.  

In this episode, we review this lyrical, beautiful book - and give our two cents (and then some) on the power of unpacking language and allowing the words we use to truly bring our diverse life experiences to the fore.  

Grab a copy of The Dictionary of Lost Words and tell us your thoughts! Also, we'd love to know: what is the most powerful use of language you can think of?   

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Produced by Cassie Roma and Vanessa McGowan. Music "Big City Women" by Tattletale Saints.