Salt Upon the Water: Colonel William Light and re-imagining history

Join award-winning author and academic Dr Lyn Dickens for a discussion of her Miles Franklin longlisted novel, Salt Upon the Water, and the inspiration behind the novel's 'alternative history' of South Australia's 'founding' colonial figure, Colonel William Light. Lyn will discuss her use of the State Library's invaluable archives, the blend of fact and fiction, and her fortuitous opportunity to visit William Light's childhood home in Suffolk, as well as the implications of Light's heritage for Australian history, culture, and identity.

Set in the early 19th century in South Australia, England, Italy, India and Malaysia, Salt Upon the Water blends magical realism with historical fiction to explore William Light's under-told Asian ancestry. Part love story, part colonial critique, the novel won the 2024 Arts SA Unpublished Manuscript Award and was longlisted for the 2026 Miles Franklin Award.