The Dictionary of Lost Words (2020) by Australian writer Pip Williams was a best seller in Australia, a New York Times best seller, & the first Australian novel to be selected for Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club. It has also won multiple awards including the NSW Premier’s Literary Award

A stage adaption of the book by South Australian playwright Verity Laughton premiered in Adelaide, South Australia on 22 September 2023. It has also had a season at the Sydney Opera House in March 2025 & again in Adelaide during April 2024.

The play – following the novel - features an orphan character, Lizzy Lester, whose job it is to care for Esme Nicoll, lexicographer Harry Nicholl’s daughter who collects words used by women that others find offensive.

The play concludes with Esme Nicoll’s daughter – who was taken to South Australia by her adoptive parents – giving a lecture at the University of South Australia.