Front Row

Sarah Crompton, theatre critic and arts writer, and Ben Luke, art critic for the Art Newspaper, discuss David Hockney’s Serpentine show and its ninety-metre iPad frieze. They debate presentation and technique, weigh Hockney’s portraits against his digital work, and explore show highlights. They also touch on novels, a tense film about wartime food tasters, and writing tips from a short‑story judge.

James McAvoy, award-winning Scottish actor making his directorial debut, talks about casting, recreating a Noughties concert and the true-lie story of two Dundee rappers. Sarah Quintrell, screenwriter reframing Austen, explains centering Mary Bennet for fresh humour and tone. Brother Samuel, Anglican Franciscan friar, explores St Francis’s life, public display and artistic legacy.

Howard Jacobson, Booker Prize-winning novelist, discusses his new novel Howl and its moral and comedic framing. Thea Gilmore, veteran singer-songwriter, presents The Echo Line project turning anonymous messages into songs and performs 'Sylvie'. They explore grief, Jewish identity, comedy amid outrage, and the ethics of transforming private voices into public music.

Cillian Murphy, Oscar-winning Irish actor known for Peaky Blinders, discusses bringing Tommy Shelby back to film. Deepa Anappara, Indian journalist-turned-novelist, reads from and talks about her new novel set in 19th-century Tibet. Toby Mundy, literary agent and prize director, examines shifting nonfiction sales and what categories are thriving. Short, lively conversations about art, publishing trends and storytelling.

Seán Doran, artistic director behind Northern Literary Lands, outlines a bid to make an eleven-county region a UNESCO literary area. Rebecca Stott, novelist and academic, talks novels, creative writing and reading culture. Robbie Collin, Telegraph film critic, delivers sharp takes on Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride and other contemporary films.

Will Self, novelist and cultural commentator, talks about his new satirical novel and how cancer shaped his recent work. Charlotte McReynolds, curator at National Museums NI, speaks from Belfast about rebuilding the Ulster Museum's textile collection and the Ashes to Fashion exhibition. They discuss satire, modern alienation, rapid writing, illness and creativity, and the rebirth of a lost fashion archive.

Julia Quinn, bestselling Bridgerton novelist, reflects on writing Regency romance, adaptation and themes of class, race and sex. Dr Jack Gann, curator at the Thackray Museum of Medicine, explores anatomical illustration, ethics and art. They discuss adaptation serendipity, Regency storytelling choices, the role of intimacy in romance, and how anatomical art mixes beauty with troubling history.

Media journalist Al Horner discusses the latest twist in Warner Bros sale.Pixar's chief creative officer Pete Docter on the inner workings of the animation giant as it marks its 40th anniversary this year.100 years after his birth, and with a special BFI season underway, we assess the work of the Polish director Andrzej Wajda, with fellow director Agnieszka Holland and film writer Ian Christie. British painter Rose Wylie's Royal academy retrospective opened last week. Samira sat down to speak with her at the RA in the shadow of one of her enormous canvasses. Presenter: Samira Ahmed

Art critic Louisa Buck and writer Chris Power giving their verdicts on Tracey Emin: a second life at Tate Modern. This landmark exhibition spans 40 years and includes famous works such as My Bed to recent paintings and bronzes which are on display for the first time.They will also be reviewing the Oscar nominated film Sirât - which tells the story of a father travelling the Moroccan desert with ravers in the hope of finding his missing daughter.And they discuss Bird Grove, a play which tells the story of Mary Ann Evans before she became George Eliot.Plus Tom interviews Linda Tolhurst, the National Theatre’s Stage Door Keeper who is receiving the Industry Recognition Award at the Olivier Awards this year.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet

Poet Laureate of the United States, Arthur Sze is one of the most admired poets of the past five decades influencing the work of Poet Laureates and Nobel Physicists. His work focusses on imagery from nature and he will talk about his latest collection and his first UK publication, Into The Hush.The Glasgow Film Festival opening film, Everybody to Kenmure Street tells the story of the community response to a dawn raid by Immigration Officers on Kenmure Street, a diverse community in the southside of Glasgow in May 2021. Director Felipe Bustos Sierra joins Kirsty.Artist Ilana Halperin on her exhibition 'What Is Us and What is Earth' that blends sculpture, drawing and photography to explore the connection between human life and geological time. Curator Susanna Beaumont will also join the discussison to talk about the exhibition, 'Earth Matters' that marks 300 years since the birth of James Hutton, the Edinburgh born geologist whose radical ideas gave us the first sense of deep time and changed how we see the Earth