On 20 May 2025, Harry Hartog bookshop on ANU campus is hosting the launch of Cold Words – A Polar Dictionary by Bernadette Hince. The evenings proceedings will be moderated by Canberra Author Peter Stanley and Cold Words will be launched by Ms Lene Schumacher, Deputy Head of Mission, Royal Danish Embassy

This ‘ice-breaking’ book collects the English words of the Antarctic and the Arctic for the first time. These words relate to weather, ice and snow, auroras, clothes, food, housing, social structures, wildlife, plants, politics, as well as many other aspects of polar life. The terms are presented with scientific precision, a helpful interpretative commentary and moments of whimsy. Apart from Antarctica and the Arctic, the regions covered in Cold Words stretch to places as remote as the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Tristan da Cunha and the Falkland Islands.

Bernadette Hince is a dictionary-maker and natural historian with a passionate interest in language and the world’s cold places. She has written about polar food, words and environmental history. She is the author of The Antarctic Dictionary.

Books will be available for purchase and signing at the event. For catering purposes – registration is required for this event. For more information, or to register, see here.