Terry Waite, Alan Johnson and Mandasue Heller added to Rochdale Literature Festival line-up

Terry Waite CBE will be appearing at Rochdale Literature and Ideas Festival this autumn

2 More Image(s) In Gallery

Humanitarian and author Terry Waite CBE, former Home Secretary and MP Alan Johnson, along with one of the UK’s best loved crime writers, Mandasue Heller have been added to the Rochdale Literature Festival line up.

Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie’s special envoy Terry Waite, was released from captivity in Beirut, 26 years ago, after being held hostage for almost five years.

During the festival he’ll be recalling the highs and lows of his life, published in ‘Out of the Silence’ his moving sequence of poems and reflections. His incredible journey, immortalised in his best-selling autobiography ‘Taken on Trust’, can be heard. 

Alan Johnson will be making his Rochdale debut to discuss the third volume of his award-winning memoirs. Following on from his early life recounted in This Boy and Please, Mister Postman, The Long and Winding Road takes us to the corridors of Westminster where his negotiating skills and charismatic style soon came to the notice of Tony Blair and other senior members of the Labour Party.

Entering Parliament as an MP after the landslide election victory in May 1997, Mr Johnson rose to the office of Home Secretary in 2009.

Mandasue Heller will be discussing ‘Run,’ her 15th novel in 15 years - a gritty, fast-paced, urban thriller based in Manchester's criminal underworld.

Warrington-born Mandasue, dubbed 'the Martina Cole of the north' moved to Greater Manchester in the 1980s where she found the inspiration and backdrop for her crime thrillers.

Her 2015 novel, Afraid, was a Sunday Times top-ten bestseller and her books have already sold nearly two million copies.

Terry Waite CBE, Alan Johnson and Mandasue Heller join a line-up which also includes talk show legend Sir Michael Parkinson, comedian and novelist Jenny Eclair and Manchester poet Tony Walsh aka Longfella.

The festival will run from Tuesday 17 to Monday 23 October with organisers Rochdale Borough Council promising another packed week of exciting arts for all ages.

Events will cover drama, comedy, poetry, spoken word, visual arts and children’s shows. For young people aged 14 to 25, another ‘Generation Z’ programme is being put together.