Little Birds writer Sophia Al-Maria, Simon Armitage, Summer reads, Tara Gbolade

Qatari-American artist, writer, and filmmaker Sophia Al-Maria discusses her screenplay for the latest big release from Sky Atlantic. Inspired by Anaïs Nin’s collection of erotic stories, Little Birds is set in the famous 'international zone' of Tangier. New York heiress Lucy Savage (Juno Temple) is fresh off the transatlantic steamer and ready for love and marriage in exotic climes. But when her husband Hugo (Hugh Skinner) does not receive her in the way she expected, she spins off into a new surprising, diverse and sexually liberated world.

Poet Laureate Simon Armitage responds to today's decision by Ofqual, the exams regulator, that students taking English Literature GCSE next year will not be required to study any poetry. They will be assessed on a Shakespeare play, but have the option to cover a 19th century novel or a post-1914 work of British fiction or drama, or poetry.

This summer, many of us are holidaying at home so rather than recommending books to take on holiday, tonight we're recommending books about holidays or set in holiday locations. Clare Allfree, books editor at The Metro Newspaper, guides us through her selection of vacation-themed literature.

All this week on Front Row, creative individuals from the arts are choosing one Lockdown Discovery, a cultural find that gave them pleasure in the dark months being stuck at home. Today it’s the turn of the architect Tara Gbolade, whose lockdown was significantly improved by accidentally stumbling upon a book which captured her architectural imagination: Vernacular Architecture of West Africa: A World in Dwelling.

Presenter Tom Sutcliffe Producer Simon Richardson