Fifty Words for Snow

Waterstones Non fiction Book of the Month November 2021

'A delightful compendium that brings together language, culture and adventure through frozen landscapes as it shares the meanings behind 50 words for snow, gathered from around the globe.' The Herald

Snow. Every language has its own words for the magical, mesmerising flakes that fall from the sky. In this exquisite exploration, writer and Arctic traveller Nancy Campbell digs deep into the meanings of fifty words for snow.

In Japanese we encounter yuki-onna – a 'snow woman' who drifts through the frosted land. In Icelandic it is hundslappadrífa – 'snowflakes as big as a dog's paw' – that softly blanket the streets. And in Māori we meet Huka-rere – 'one of the children of rain and wind'.

From mountain tops and frozen seas to city parks and desert hills, each of these linguistic snow crystals offers a whole world of myth and story – the perfect winter gift.

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'Absolutely exquisite. This little book is a work of art. It is impossible to imagine the reader who will not love it.' Horatio Clare, author of The Light in the Dark

'This stunning book made me want to pack all my woolies, candles, ample firewood and enough books for a year – and head to as northerly a location as I could find.' Kerri ní Dochartaigh, Caught By the River

'Sparkles and dazzles with new meanings and old magic. You'll never see snow in the same way again.' Matt Gaw, author of Under the Stars



NANCY CAMPBELL is a poet and non-fiction writer described as 'deft, dangerous and dazzling' by the former Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. Her work has engaged with the polar environment since a winter spent as Artist in Residence at the most northern museum in the world on Upernavik in Greenland in 2010. Her books include The Library of Ice: Readings in a Cold Climate, Disko Bay and How to Say 'I Love You' in Greenlandic. She was appointed Canal Laureate by The Poetry Society in 2018, writing poems for installation across the UK waterways from London Docklands to the River Severn, and received the Ness Award from the Royal Geographical Society in 2020.