Overall, I had a busy 2020. Despite having no shows on (two productions of Belfast Girls and a production of the female version of Leopoldville were all cancelled this year), breaking the pattern for the past five years of at least two play productions a year, I wrote fairly consistently and read every day. Once again however, as with last year, my reading of contemporary works mostly consisted of books I was asked to review - otherwise I read either classics or not-so-recent contemporary fiction. This is not as a snub to the plethora of brilliant new novels and novelists out there but simply because I have a very long catch-up list and I just happen to be a slow (though careful) reader. I also watched a lot of TV drama and far fewer films than I usually do (mainly due to Covid restrictions impacting the film industry and cinemas). I also reread The Theatre and its Double by Antonin Artaud and the plays of Sarah Kane. I wrote about this for Samuel French during the year – here’s the link:
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| Elizabeth Bowen |
Here follows my best of 2020, in terms of books, TV and music:
My favourite non-fiction book this year was The Shadowy Third: Love, Letters and Elizabeth Bowen by debut author Julia Parry. Not out until February 2021, I was lucky enough to have been given an advance copy of this. It’s an absolutely stunning work, a prose blend of literary biography and writing journal and is a brilliant new addition to critical studies on Elizabeth Bowen as well as being a moving family history.
I also loved Melatu Uche Okorie’s This Hostel Life (published in 2018) which is part fiction, part memoir, part essay – a beautiful fiction/non-fiction hybrid. I read this primarily as research into Direct Provision in Ireland but was delighted to find a gorgeous new voice in Okorie.
Faith Binckes’ and Kathryn Laing’s critical study, Hannah Lynch (1859-1904): Irish Writer, Cosmopolitan, NewWoman – is a fantastic work but actually I read this towards the end of last year so strictly speaking it’s a 2019 read – though my review of this for the TLS was published in March 2020:
My favourite fiction of 2020 was Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, published in 2002. I adored this book and admired greatly Waters’ skill in sculpting carefully its many twists and turns, most of which are completely surprising.
I also read Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina for the first time. I had read War and Peace aged 14 but for some reason never got to AK though my copy is so old it’s called Anna Karenin (the masculine version of the surname no longer appears on modern copies of the book). It was a joy to return to Tolstoy. His depth of feeling, the lack of judgement for his characters, the provision of a complete world for his characters – both their society and internal lives, all patiently rendered in his beautiful prose.
I enjoyed Julian Barnes’ Flaubert’s Parrot but not as much as A Sense of an Ending - which I read at the beginning of 2020. This is a stunning novel and I’m now a big fan of Julian Barnes. I also liked Anna Burns’ Milkman – the rhythms and voice here are compelling.
In terms of poetry, I reread Heaney’s Sweeney Astray, published in 1983 – mainly because I am generally fascinated by the story of Sweeney - and am currently reading and loving Louise Gluck’s Wild Iris.
My favourite TV shows of 2020 were:
Devs, The Queens Gambit (my own father was a chess and checkers grandmaster so I am very familiar with the world of tournaments, boards, pieces, clocks and somewhat geeky players). I also enjoyed Mike Bartlett’s Life (with Alison Steadman), Harlots, Yellowstone, The Undoing, and the Small Axe films from Steve McQueen. I also really loved His Dark Materials, with brilliant scripts from Jack Thorne.
In the past few years Irish bands have come into their own. At the end of 2019 I went to see Fontaines DC in Vicar Street in Dublin and it was the last gig I’ve been to since Covid changed all our lives. This year, the band released their second album A Hero’s Death, and it is every bit as good as their first, Dogrel.
Another great album this year was Sinners and Lost Souls, the second album from Sons of Southern Ulster (who hail from Cavan), particularly the track Polaris – the Pete Briquette mix of this is particularly good. I also enjoyed music from the Mercury Prize-shortlisted Porridge Radio, from Sleaford Mods, and new sounds from Manchester’s Jane Weaver. Some of the best new tracks from Irish bands I heard first on Mike McMahon’s Music Xpress show, on Dundalk FM 97.7, Saturdays at 12 noon. Well done to Mike for these great discoveries!
Here is a list of my ten favourite tracks of 2020, with links. Have a listen:
Polaris by Sons of Southern Ulster, Pete Briquette mix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6hNvtD649Q
Televised Mind by Fontaines DC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE7vLPSfw6Q&ab_channel=FontainesDC
Concrete Bed by Bullet Girl:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIGHpcS7qO8
Shortcummings by Sleaford Mods:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39HmCqHZOMU
7 Seconds by Porridge Radio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgwU6nmODYU
A Hero's Death by Fontaines DC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLNt8aMNbvY
The Revolution of Super Visions by Jane Weaver:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zop_79wxs6M
Sons of Southern Ulster, Fear My Scorn:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBOECTShW2k
Sunny, Fontaines DC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5933Dr37CY
Model Village, Idles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjr11lGEBg4
Here's wishing you all a great 2021. I think we've done pretty well to survive the year at all and thanks so much to the artists mentioned above who've created such magical work in a difficult year.
See you on the other side!
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