book

There’s a word for every emotion, occasion, and situation. What then is the word for 2020? We know not. 'It was the year 2020' is a tale in search of that word. Made up of fragments its elements can be read in isolation or absorbed in entirety. The tale lacks a traditional plot, and its characters remain nameless, all victims of a crisis. Set in real-time, it dares to speak of the pandemic, waiting to take over our lives, or whatever little is left of it.

author speak

Why did I write my second title during a pandemic? To begin with, I am in love with words and their magic; and over my 16 years of writings, I’ve come to understand that words connect us, empower us, and can soothe us. Could we ask for more during a pandemic? So, I guess I didn’t decide to write a book, but the book chose me. It sounds eerie for it happens to be a book I wrote on the pandemic, in the pandemic and was published in the pandemic (February 2021) as well. It is title what literary experts call is a fragmentary novel, and its elements can be read in isolation or absorbed in their entirety.  What was the trigger then? Perhaps the search for a word that could sum up the year 2020. After all, there’s a word for every emotion, occasion, and situation, right? If not in the English language, then definitely in Norwegian, Danish or Japanese. As I struggled to find one word, I found relief in the information that the Oxford English Dictionary had expanded its word of the year to encompass several words of an unprecedented year. As for me, I just borrowed a few and put them together in ‘It was the year 2020: What then is the word for 2020? I know not. The title and I too are in search of that word. And if you do happen to pick this read, do remember that nothing here is order, for 2020 was anything else but in 'order'!