As this year finishes, I’m doing the usual – wrapping up my projects and thinking about how it all went. I’m tempted to write a more bitter post, I really am. Instead, I choose to talk about the good things. Here are ten titles – books, films, albums, TV series, games – which helped me get through 2021.
1. “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism” by Shoshanna Zuboff
This audiobook was my companion for many, many hours. I can honestly say that few books in recent years made me as angry as this one – and few were as eye-opening. For learners and teachers, Professor Zuboff’s discussion of the “inequalities of learning” should be required, and unsettling, reading.
2. Dorfromantik by Toukana Interactive
This game was soothing and challenging at the same time. The premise is simple – build an ideal landscape, one hexagon after another. The complexities quickly become obvious – how much farmland is too much, where to put this railroad to nowhere…? Bonus points for a lovely soundtrack.
3. “Dune” by Dennis Villeneuve
Seen twice. Would gladly see again. A slow-rolling, monumental, impressive meditation on ecology, living, dying. Is it faithful to the novels? No. Denis Villeneuve decided he was going to do a Denis Villeneuve movie, not a Frank Herbert one. And that, in a 2021 motion picture, is a good thing.
4. “My Universe” by BTS / Coldplay
2021 was the year in which I ran a lot. It was also the year in which I stopeed pretending that only sad music interests me, and fully learned to love the less “serious”, more pop-flavoured stuff. I’m saying these two things here because “My Universe” is now in every single running playlist I own. It’s shamelessly optimistic, proudly multilingual, and – as it’s being performed live with avatars – gives me hope for metaverse. Also, TUUUUUUUUNEEEEE
5. “Butter” by BTS
See above. BTS got smuggled into our household by Marta Dziurosz and I’m not mad about that at all. She wasn’t too keen on the melody here – until she got some good headphones to appreciate the bass line…
6. “The Practice” by Seth Godin
In a way, this book is a remix of Godin’s earlier ideas – see my review here. But even if he chose to just rearrange the chapters and ship them in a new cover every few years, I’d still find value in reading / listening to Seth Godin. This one reminded me to keep my head down and put the work in. And sometimes, it worked.
7. “Poor” by Caleb Femi
Caleb Femi was love at first sight/hearing since a Tongue Fu spoken word party in former, simpler times. “Poor”, his award-winning poetry/photography collection, speaks of living in Peckham, but not like I ever lived or could ever live it. Caleb Femi and Kae Tempest remain my London education – and one of a handful of reasons why I still live where I live!
8. “Romeo & Juliet” by William Shakespeare
This – seen in the summer of 2021 at the Globe – was, I think, the only time I ventured out to see a live show this year. Again, let’s not get ranty, and focus on what happened: Ola Ince’s guidance made this modern-day adaptation relevant again, Alfred Enoch and Rebekah Murrell were larger-than-life and scarily relatable. The Globe tends to release its productions as DVDs or downloads, and I can recommend this one.
9. “The Witcher” – season 2 by Netflix
After the drawn-out, wasteful agony of “Cowboy Bebop”, I was not sure I would be giving Netflix a second chance. “The Witcher” was merely OK during its first season – the novels and stories gave it dozens of good places to go, but it never got there. I’m pleased to report that it seems to be getting somewhere in season 2 – there’s pace and rhythm to it now. Also – monster design is genuinely creepy!
10. “6000 Miles to Home” / “Długa Droga do Domu” – Kim Dana Kupperman (trans. Karolina Klermon-Williams)
Working on this book was an honour and a challenge. Kim Dana Kupperman tells a story of a family whose exile and fate was shared by many Jewish, Polish, or Silesian families throughout World War 2. This meant that as I reviewed and edited Karolina Klermon-Williams’ Polish translation, I found myself remembering the stories told to me by my grandparents, too.
May you always find yourself at home in 2022 – wherever you go!
Vic Kostrzewski
(Photo by Antonio Gabola on Unsplash)
I am an editor, author, translator and teacher based in the UK.
I am always looking to get involved in new projects. My areas of expertise:
ELT publishing – print and digital
Language learning
Translation – POL-ENG-POL, non-fiction
Editorial project management
Does it look like we could work together? Download my CV or get in touch via e-mail.