MARIA DUARTE picks the best and worst of a crowded year of films

STEVE JOHNSON picks his favourites from the many memorable albums of the year, and one stunning new festival

SIMON DUFF picks his favourites, from radical African-inspired electronic rhythms to improvisations on the organ

For GORDON PARSONS, a dramatic exploration of the abuse of young men at Medomsley Youth Detention Centre trumps Beckett, a couple of Hamlets and a bracing Candide

From feminist manifestos to exiled lovers to mythic islands, LEO BOIX selects the best fiction, poetry and non-fiction

FIONA O’CONNOR picks books and films that show defiance in the face of violence and injustice