Coronet scoops book on 'why snowflakery is good' from journalist Jewell

Coronet has scooped a book on "why snowflakery is a good thing" from journalist Hannah Jewell. 

Publisher Hannah Black acquired British Commonwealth rights to We Need Snowflakes from Charlie Viney at the Viney Agency. It will be published in hardback in January 2022.

The publisher said: "In her new book, Hannah looks to redress the representation of the modern-day phenomena of the snowflake generation. Snowflake: those supposedly hyper-sensitive, fragile, self-obsessed and usually young people who have incurred the derision and ridicule of politicians, comedians, journalists, baby boomers and their parents, for their sensitivity and tendency to take offence.

"With verve, intelligence and her trademark subversive humour, Hannah argues that despairing of the next generation is not a terribly new thing. What’s more, we should demand to not be oppressed and derided—it’s also perfectly fine to be offended by offensive behaviour. This is the only way in which we hope to 'unfuck the world'. She argues that snowflakes understand the 'real world', which is why they want to see it change—and that is precisely what their detractors are actually scared of."

Jewell is the author of 100 Nasty Women of History (Hodder & Stoughton), a book profiling women united by the fact they were all too scandalous, too difficult and too "unladylike" for their time. She is a video journalist at the Washington Post covering pop culture, politics and more. She formerly worked at BuzzFeed UK, where she was known for her writing about gender and her satire of British and American politics.

Jewell said: "Over the last few years, I've grown more and more frustrated by the negative and inaccurate way that young people are portrayed in the media. Every single day, there's a new column or book or television segment about how the allegedly sensitive and censorious young are going to destroy society as we know it. But the truth is, we can learn a lot from the very people that these commentators have derisively labelled 'snowflakes', [lessons] about how to make a better and more compassionate world. We Need Snowflakes is my furious and, I hope, funny rebuttal of everything you have been told to fear about young people today."

Black added: "I’m delighted to be publishing Hannah again. As with her first book, 100 Nasty Women of History, she approaches her subject with academic rigour, dazzling prose and dark humour of the most subversive brand. She is without doubt one of the smartest women I know, and her new book is a vital contribution to the conversations we should all be having. She argues with gravity and some pretty sassy turns of phrase why snowflakery is a good thing, and that rather than creating pathetic creatures unable to cope, there is power in calling out prejudice, bullying, microaggressions—and that we should all be doing it."