I would first like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands and waters on which I researched this book. I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia, and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. I pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
I discovered Oli at sea. And over time, with the help of many teachers, I learnt a language with which to tell her story.
Thank you to my dad, Will Hardcastle, for teaching me to read the wind on open ocean before I could read words. Thank you to my mum, Lindy Hardcastle, for teaching me to endure storms at sea. Thank you to my nan, Maggie Hardcastle, for reading everything I’ve ever written … I wish you could have read this.
Thank you to Alison and Dave Molloy at Prosail in the Whitsundays for first introducing me to the Coral Sea. Thank you to Peter Lowndes and Sarah Goddard-Jones of Wine Dark Sea for letting me sail the east coast of Australia with you. I remember so clearly the moment we first listened to whale song together in a garden of sea flowers. Oli would not have met Mac and Maggie if it weren’t for you two.
Thank you to everyone at Chimu Adventures for taking me to the end of the earth. Thanks also to Samuel Johnson whose belief in me as an artist helped me to get there. Thank you to everyone who joined me on my adventures through Patagonia and Antarctica. Special thanks go to Gwenllian Bateman and Alicia-Rae Olafsson who shared Antarctica’s silences with me.
I discovered Oli at sea, but I wrote her story while studying as a Provost’s Scholar at Worcester College at the University of Oxford. The generosity of my scholarship’s donors afforded me this immense privilege. Words can’t express how grateful I am for this opportunity.
At Oxford, I found a language with which to tell Oli’s story by studying under Dr Daniel Matore, Dr Henry Mead and Professor Sir Jonathan Bate. When I wrote Below Deck, I read the entire novel aloud to Professor Sir Jonathan Bate. Thank you for listening with such care and open generosity. Thank you for holding my truth.
Thank you also to the great womxn throughout history whose fearless storytelling and fierce activism laid the groundwork that made writing this story possible. Thank you to my literary heroes, Rebecca Solnit, Marianne Moore, Mina Loy and H.D., whose work was especially influential in the creation of Below Deck.
Thank you to Professor Elleke Boehmer at the University of Oxford who took me on as her research assistant in 2019, giving me the opportunity to further research Antarctic literature. It was here that I came across Edgar Allan Poe’s early depiction of Antarctica in his short story, MS. Found in a Bottle (1833), as well as his essay, The Philosophy of Composition (1846), from which I derived the quote, ‘the death then of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world, and equally is it beyond doubt that the lips best suited for such topic are those of a bereaved lover.’
Thank you to my agents, Benython Oldfield, Sharon Galant and Thomasin Chinnery for championing this story from the very beginning. Thank you to everyone at Allen & Unwin for believing in Oli, especially my publisher Kelly Fagan, who quickly became both my friend and my hero. Thank you for believing in this story, even when I didn’t. Thank you to my editors Christa Munns, Ali Lavau and Aziza Kuypers. The dream team. Thank you for challenging and supporting me in equal measure.
Thank you to my dear friends Johann Go, Charlie Ford, Kirk Watson, Martin Rosas Carbajal, Ed Chan, Coby Edgar, Isa Frank, Alexander Darby and Yassmin Abdel-Magied for your thorough notes, early criticism and assistance with my research.
Thank you to the Dabalà family in Italy for generously opening their doors to me during my university holidays. It was in your home that I felt safe enough to write my most difficult chapters. Thank you also to Jacquetta Hayes for listening when I first voiced Sea Monsters. Thank you to my sister, Georgia, and my friends in both Australia and England for supporting me on this wild ride. And finally, thank you to my first and last reader, Robbie Mason. This one’s for you.