{"id":433,"date":"2019-10-11T13:44:40","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T12:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/?p=433"},"modified":"2019-10-11T13:44:41","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T12:44:41","slug":"rochdale-literature-ideas-festival-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/2019\/10\/11\/rochdale-literature-ideas-festival-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"ROCHDALE LITERATURE & IDEAS FESTIVAL 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

LITERATURE AND\nIDEAS IN ROCHDALE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ntitle of the festival reflects the wishes of the benefactors who, a few years\nago, left a significant bequest to the borough library services. It also\nreflects the fact that history reminds that at least one of the world\u00b4s\ngreatest ideas emerged from the town. Visitors to this year\u00b4s event, if new to\nthe borough, can visit Touchstones Arts And Heritage Centre and The\nCo-operative Pioneers\u00b4 Museum on the quaintly cobbled Toad Lane to learn more\nabout how thirteen men generated not only a global phenomenon but what could\nalso surely be called a global philosophy. This town was the birthplace of The\nCo-Operative Movement, still an important force around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nyear\u2019s Rochdale Literature And Ideas Festival, under the guidance of new to\npost Festival Director, Fiona Elizabeth Brown, has been organised in\ncollaboration with Rochdale MBC, through money generated from ticket sales, The\nMaskew Bequest and the JGM Agency. The Festival team of 2019 are again working\nwith a range of local organisations that share a passion for the written and\nspoken word and events include, for the second consecutive year, a series of\n\u00b4Generation Z\u00b4 events aimed at young people from 14 to 25 and supported by Arts\nCouncil England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Booking\ndetails of any of the events described below can be found at rochdaleliteraturefestival.co.uk\/whats-on\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\nan official launch, to be held in The Touchstones Arts And Heritage Centre on\nMonday 14th<\/sup> October, Rochdale Literature And Ideas Festival 2019\nincludes names like poet and author Sophie Hannah and much loved broadcaster\nand presenter John Craven, so much a part of my childhood television viewing on\nBlue Peter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nMaskews\u00b4 inclusion of a call to promote ideas and philosophy through their\ngenerous bequest to Rochdale Borough Library Services will see the unveiling at\nthis event of a blue plaque at the venue in honour of the couple who made these\nannual events possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nevent also promises the debut of a graphic novel, specially commissioned, that\ntells how Frank and Annie met, and tracing the impact their generosity has had\non the library specifically and the arts and culture scene in Rochdale in\ngeneral. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visitors\nwill hear from community leaders as well as the graphic designer and from Will\nHussey, the author who created this novel. He specialises in \u00b4transformational\nthinking\u00b4 and has a degree in Physical And Adventure Education, which is a term\nhe thinks could usefully replace the single word education in our language !\nWill works with colleagues under the collective name of The Art Of Brilliance\nwho have been described as \u00b4a catalyst for making big differences out of little\nchanges,\u00b4 an epithet the Maskews would surely enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From\nthen on, throughout the week, there will be more than thirty events staged at\naround a dozen venues. All the libraries in the Borough will be participating\nin the festival and major venues range from the exquisite old town hall that\ngazes down on the statue of the town\u00b4s most famous daughter, Gracie Fields, to\nthe ultra-modern and award winning Number One Riverside Building, standing by a\ntumbling wharf, that houses the central library and all the council offices in\nits Tardis like interior. The theatre, conference rooms and sports centre\ncomplex that is Middleton Arena are staging events, too, as is the long\nestablished Curtain Theatre and the Rochdale Sixth Form College theatre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hotels\nlike The Royal Toby will host functions as well and noteworthy real ale pubs\nlike The Baum, that sits in the shadow of a magnificent and moody church, with\nits arms wrapped around the Pioneer\u00b4s Co-operative Museum, will surely draw\nartists and audience alike. Meanwhile the cosy little art gallery at Number 10\nand the revived Hare Hill House in Littleborough will accommodate performances\nand workshops. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spectators\nand fans will surely wander through all the townships in the Borough and hundreds\nare bound to visit the tiny market on The Butts and the site of the \u00b4revealed\nriver,\u00b4 the result of one of the more recent renovations in a town that nestles\nin the foothills of The Pennines, if just a little too much under their rain\nshadow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So,\nwhen the 2019 Rochdale Literature And Ideas Festival begins next week,\nfollowing a busy few months of social media campaigning, it will include well\nknown faces of authors, philosophers and personalities as well as new talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nFestival is currently being unveiled with an introductory event at The\nTouchstones Arts And Heritage Centre, even as I write this article, on Saturday\n5th<\/sup> October, with a work titled Rumi: The Alchemy Of Love that is\ndescribed as poetry and performance with music. Presented in partnership with\nMACFEST UK, The Muslim Arts And Cultural Festival, this performance celebrates\nthe unique and inspiring thirteenth century poet and philosopher. His\ninfluential work transcends national borders and bridges ethnic divisions\naround the world. I have already been texted by a friend attending the event telling\nme that Rumi\u00b4s intriguing Alchemy Of Love is being excellently performed by\nGulcn Bulut and The Sahba Ensemble. I am told the performance displays a robust\nfragility and unshakeable serenity, and certainly that was something I, too,\nfelt four or five years ago when visiting important sites in Turkey,\ncommemorating Rumi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following\nthe official opening event and unveiling of that plaque, there will follow on\nTuesday 15th<\/sup> October at Rochdale Sixth Form College, Queerly\nAutistic, a piece that looks at not only what it means to be autistic and but\nalso how much more it means to be autistic whilst coming to terms with your\nsexuality and gender issues. The event will be hosted by the self-described\n\u00b4queer, autistic blogger\u00b4 Erin Ekins who was part of a Channel 4 documentary\ncalled Are You Autistic? Erin\u00b4s blog, Queerly Autistic, has been featured by\nbroadcaster and journalist Victoria Derbyshire and on Radio 5 Live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erin\nfocuses on autism, invisible disability and LGBTQIA+ issues. From the\nperspective of an autistic adult, Erin engages audiences and readers across the\ncountry to raise awareness about equality, inter-sectionality attitudes towards\nautistic people and the importance of ensuring that the autistic, disabled and\nLLGBTQIA+ members of our population are not failed by their local councils and\nwider authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following\nshortly after that at the same Sixth Form College venue on the same evening of\nTuesday 15th<\/sup> October is Thinking Outside The Books. This event will\ndemonstrate that philosophy is not, as some would have us believe, a passion only\nof boring people in dusty old libraries. By thinking outside the books you can\nuse philosophy to keep your life on track in its emotional health and\nwell-being. Jules Evans is a philosopher, writer and speaker who is interested\nin ideas and practices that help to achieve that. His first book, Philosophy\nFor Life And Other Dangerous Situations has been selected as a Times Book Of\nThe Year and has been published in twenty countries. The text re-introduces\nAncient Greek and Roman Philosophy to our modern age and Jules also co-wrote\nand co-presented the BBC Radio 5 series, My Life As A Philosopher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Hormonal Houswives<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Now\nthen, listen up any guys out there who might be reading this. One of my most\nabiding, and terrifying, memories of all The Rochdale Literature And Ideas\nFestivals I was involved in is of being one of a handful of men amongst\nhundreds of women watching Jenny \u00c9clair deliver a brilliantly funny, but manic\nand somewhat scary comedy routine at Middleton Arena. I was sitting with\nseveral female colleagues from the Library Services and didn\u00b4t know where to\nlook as Jenny went into graphic details about the mental and physical changes\nthat occur to women of a certain age. Beware guys, it sounds like more of the\nsame might be out there as three women under the collective title of Hormonal\nHousewives share their thoughts. We are promised \/ warned that \u00b4no subject is\ntaboo, no thought too private.\u00b4 So guys, go on, I dare you. It\u2019s only been a\nfew years since I saw Jenny \u00c9clair and I\u00b4m getting a bit better with every\npassing day. The Hormonal Housewives appear at the Middleton Arena on Tuesday\n15th<\/sup> October at 7.30 pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway,\nyou should be able to recover your equilibrium the following day by attending\nMillie\u00b4s Marvellous Afternoon Tea Party from 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm on Wednesday 16th<\/sup>\nOctober in Rochdale Town Hall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ngathering will be hosted by Sunday Times Best Selling Author, Milly Johnson,\nwho is often called The Queen Of Feel-Good Fiction. She will be sharing the wit\nand humour that have earned her that title and that has taken her current novel,\nThe Magnificent Mrs. Mayhew into the top five of the current Sunday Times\nBest-Sellers list. Milly Johnson will talk about the book, described by The\nSunday Express as \u00b4a warm hug of a book, with a distractingly hot local vicar\nthrown in!\u2019 and visitors can enjoy a delicious afternoon tea in The Clock Tower\nDining Room in what remains one of the most impressive town halls in the\ncountry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nmight be around twenty years ago, when Pam McKee and I were working as Artists\nIn School under the name of Just Poets, that we first came across Liverpool\npoet Terry Caffrey. I was massively impressed by his lyrical lines and Pam was\nhugely impressed by his audience rapport. His unique selling factor was an\nability to tap his head and shoulders, knees and toes in time and onomatopoeia  to his words in a way that enthralled school children.\nHe was an engaging conversationalist we discovered as we spent off duty time\nwith him at school one week, and was as passionate about introducing young\npeople to poetry as we were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Terry Caffrey
football poet<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Terry\nCaffrey is, these days, poet in residence at The National Football Museum at\nManchester\u00b4s Bridgewater Hall and has, too, held a similar post at The National\nCoal Mining Museum in Wakefield. I also remember a couple of poetry slams at\nThe Citadel Theatre in St. Helens that Just Poets participated in, which were\nhosted by Terry who, we are assured, remains the same laid back person he was\nthen, still full of laughter and eagerness to enthuse others with his love of\npoetry, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\ncan catch Terry on Wednesday 17th<\/sup> October at 5.30 pm in Touchstones\nArts And Heritage Centre, where later the same evening you can meet Women Who\nWrite Dystopia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not\nonly do readers and lovers of fiction attend these festivals, of course, but so,\ntoo, do aspirant writers wanting to know more about writing technique and the\nwhole agency \/ publishing process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nfact that the Borough of Rochdale has three major creative writing groups,\nWeaving Words, Touchstones and Langley Writers ensures that any of the town\u00b4s\nLiterature And Ideas Festival events featuring authors draws CWG members like\nmoths to a flame. Any of them who might be feeling frustrated or at a loss as\nto where to go next with their writing will surely be attending a writing master\nclass taster created by Dream Author Coaching and presented by poet and\nnovelist Sophie Hannah. The author will speak in depth about writing technique\nand how to maximise your talents. So whether or not a writer has just written\nTHE END at the foot of the final page of a tenth novel or has just written CHAPTER\nONE on the first page of a yet to be first novel, there will be plenty of\nuseful information here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sophie Hannah<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sophie\nHannah books sell in millions around the world and she has had a psychological\ncrime novel called the Point Of Rescue adapted for television. She has also\nwritten three authorised novels featuring Agatha Christie\u00b4s iconic Hercules\nPoirot and recently she helped create a Master\u00b4s degree in Crime And Thriller\nWriting at The University Of Cambridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophie\npresents How To Think And What To Do To Make Your Writing Dreams Come True, and\nwe are promised she will do exactly what it says on the tin. The event is at\nThe Royal Toby on Thursday 17th<\/sup> October at 4.30 pm and is sure to be\nvery busy, so with only a few days left it might be useful to try to book now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet\nanother memorable event is scheduled for the following day at Rochdale\nLiterature and Ideas Festival with a reading called Remember, presented by\nYvonne Battle-Felton, an American author, now living in Lancashire producing\nfiction and creative non-fiction. She is a multi-award winning writer who has\nwon The Northern Writers Award  and has\nseen her debut novel, Remembered, long-listed for the Woman\u00b4s Prize For Fiction\n2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4Some\nbooks both break your heart and set you free. Remembered will change you,\u00b4\nRachel Edwards has said of this work about segregation and slavery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nreview publication Bookliterati called the book \u00b4emotive, erudite and breath-taking\u2019\nand the Irish Times agreed that readers will find \u00b4Remembered will stay with\nyou long after its reading.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yvonne\nBattle-Felton appears at Touchstones Arts And Heritage Centre at 6.30 pm on\nFriday 18th<\/sup> October, in another not to be missed event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
John Craven
tv presenter
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Headlines\nand Hedgerows is a familiar sounding title of an event that will feature John\nCraven OBE, who started presenting John Craven\u00b4s Newsround in 1972. Hands up if\nyou were one of the first generation of young people to watch a news programme\nprepared especially for their age group and their interests with its items\npresented in a way that made us feel grown up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

May\nI put my hand down now? I have an article to finish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His\nplace on The Children\u2019s List Of 100 All Time Greats remains secure and john\nCraven is still a firm TV favourite with my generation (you know, sixtyish or\nmaybe sixty eight or nine-ish), as he currently is a regular presenter on\nCountryfile. It is nearly twenty years since he appeared on the Michael Aspel\npresentation of This Is Your Life but even since being deservedly recognised in\nthat way his career has gone from strength to strength and his genuine smile\nand burred accent remain the same as ever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless\nmany people overlook the fact that John Craven is also a pop star, having had a\nnumber one hit as part Gareth Malone\u2019s All Star Choir that made a recording for\nChildren In Need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nreason Headlines And Hedgerows might be a slightly familiar sounding name for\nhis talk is because it is also the title of his long-awaited autobiography.\nThis special event at this year\u00b4s Rochdale Literature And Ideas Festival offers\nyou a unique opportunity to hear the legendary broadcaster in person, when he\nspeaks at the town\u00b4s Sixth Form College on Friday 18th<\/sup> October at\n6.30 pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On\nSaturday 19th<\/sup> October Littleborough Arts Festival joins The Rochdale\nLiterature And Ideas Festival to invite you to join them in a creative writing\nday-school that provides you with opportunities to attend poetry and\/or prose\nworkshops. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout\nthe events of the day you will look at how landscape has been represented in literature.\nYou will be invited to take  part in\nenjoyable, but practical writing exercises. These will be facilitated by Anna\nChilvers and Sally Baker, two published writers and experienced teachers. You\ncan bring your own lunch or catch a snack at the nearby caf\u00e9. This is all\ntaking place at Hare Hill House which sits in a lovely setting in a local park,\nand begins at 10.00 am in the morning, running through until four o\u00b4clock in\nthe afternoon of Saturday 19th<\/sup> October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any\neven occasional reader of our Sidetracks And Detours posts on the all across\nthe arts blog will know that we fully believe that the arts, particularly\nPoetry, Can Change The World and that is in fact the title of what sounds an\nespecially interesting event that runs from 10.30 to 11.30 am on the same day\nof Saturday 19th<\/sup>. This seems an unfortunate clash of two events perhaps\nlikely to be of interest to aspirant writers as well as the more casual\nvisitor. This event is being held at Touchstones Arts And Heritage Centre and\nwill be hosted by the Glasgow born poet, Kate Clanchy MBE. She will read sections\nof, and discuss, her award winning poetry. We understand she will bring\nfascinating insights into the art of discovery and the route to learning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nformer poet-in-residence at Oxford Spires Academy frequently works with migrant\nand refugee children helping them to refine their talents as she mentors them\nto become world class poets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nwonderful author Philip Pullman read Kate\u00b4s book called Some Kids I Taught And\nWhat They Taught Me. He spoke of it, in review, as \u00b4the best book on teachers\nand children and writing\u00b4 that he had ever read. He added, \u00b4No one has said\nbetter so much of what so badly needs saying. I want to see this book become a\nbest-seller, I want to see it in every staffroom. I want to see it read by\nevery student teacher. This is a wonderful achievement.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later\nthe same day, at the same venue, another award-winning author, Sally Gardner,\nhosts the first event at The Rochdale Literature And Ideas Festival to focus on\ndyslexia, reading and writing. Sally is motivated by the fact that when she was\nonly eleven years old  she was told that\nshe was \u00b4word blind\u00b4 and classified as \u00b4unteachable.\u00b4 She later gained five O\nlevels and a place at Art School and has since written and illustrated highly\nacclaimed books for children and young people with titles like Maggot Moon and\nher most recent publication The Wind In The Wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nnotice that also at this event will be other expert speakers including a lady,\nHelen Chicot, who always was so impressive even when I was working in Rochdale.\nHelen, The Rochdale MBC \u00a8Place Lead\u00b4 is one of the Borough\u00b4s Community\nChampions and she will talk about her role of supporting adults with dyslexia\nand other literacy issues. I remember her as being a tireless worker and a very\napproachable advisor and I\u00b4m sure she will prove a fount of all knowledge at\nthis event for those wanting to find additional local help with these issues.\nThe event begins at mid-day on Saturday 19th<\/sup> October. Don\u00b4t let the\nthought distract you as you listen, but I\u00b4ll let you in on one of Rochdale\u00b4s\nworst kept secrets. Our literary champion Helen is also accordion player and\ndancer with the wonderful Clog Heritage, who perform at many local festivals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most\nof you will have seen the late Robin Williams in the wonderful film Mrs.\nDoubtfire but have you ever read the book from which the film was adapted? The\nstory, in print, was called Madame Doubtfire and it is more than thirty years\nnow since it was first published. It was written by a lady called Anne Fine who\nwent on to become the first author to be named as Children\u00b4s Laureate. Anne\nwill host her book club at Rochdale Sixth Form College and will invite her\naudience to ask questions and join in with discussion about that book, her\nsubsequent career, her work in progress and her future plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nyou can exit from this event pretty sharpish you should be able to reach The\nCurtain Theatre in time for a 1.30 pm talk by author Peter Magrs who has\nwritten a book that is perhaps unique of all the commemorations that will emerge\nin this 200th<\/sup> anniversary of an infamous local event that has become\nknown as The Peterloo Massacre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many\npeople from the Rochdale area of Manchester were involved, in one way another,\nin a march and peaceful demonstration convened a few miles away in St. Peter\u00b4s\nField in Manchester. The crowd that had gathered, to urge the reform of\nparliamentary representation, were charged by a Yeoman cavalry with their\nsabres raised and eighteen people were killed and more than seven hundred\ninjured amongst the crowd of an estimated 70,000 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Paul Magrs
takes us back to Peterloo<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What\nmakes Paul Magrs view so different is that his work looks at this period of\nhistory through the eyes of a well-known time traveller in Doctor Who; The\nPeterloo Massacre, an audio drama, produced by Big Finish and featuring (the 5th<\/sup>\nDoctor in the TV versions) Peter Davidson. Illustrators Polyp and Eva Schlunke\nwill also be speaking at this event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This won\u00b4t be the first time the Festival has commemorated Peterloo. I remember being one of more than a dozen Rochdale poets performing a reading of The Mask Of Anarchy, a famous poem by Shelley that describes the sorry events, in the wonderfully eerie St. Mary In The Baum church in the inaugural Literature And Ideas Festival. We were accompanied by a wonderful folk duo playing the lament, The Fields of Peterloo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nFestival is certainly a busy schedule this year, but if you can find the time,\nvisit the Ring O Bells pub and The Old Boars Head, across the road from each\nother in the Middleton township. There are interconnecting underground tunnels\nbetween the hostelries that lead into Manchester and helped some Rochdale\npeople escape from the events that unfolded that day in Peterloo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At\n4.00 pm, on Saturday 19th<\/sup> October at The Curtain Theatre, in the\nDeeplish area of the town, just around the corner from Crescent Community Radio\nwhere I used to present a weekly all across the arts programme with jazz hound\nSteve Bewick, you could learn to draw a Grindylow. Some say these can be found\nalong the banks of The River Roch just outside Rochdale Central Library at this\nvenue of Number One Riverside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\ncould even learn to draw the kind of Boggart that hides in your attic, and\nperhaps even how to sketch an Ashwinder or an Erkling or even a Fwooper. Olivia\nLomenach Gill, is the award-winning illustrator of Fantastic Beasts And Where\nTo Find Them. She is also highly acclaimed for her illustrations in Michael Morpurgo\u00b4s\nstory of Where My Wellies Take Me. It should be fascinating to hear Olivia talk\nabout the inspirations and design processes that give her creations their\nunique and magical personalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rochdale\nParish Church at St. Chad seems an appropriate location for an event called God\nAnd The Gogglebox in the early evening of Saturday 19th<\/sup> October. She\nalways has a cup of tea close to hand and her humour, wit and innate common\nsense have seen the Reverend Kate Bottley become firm favourite on the\nprogramme with the title this event has borrowed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So\nmuch so, in fact, that Kate now also hosts Good Morning Sunday on BBC Radio 4\nwith Jason Mohammed and she has, too, appeared several times on Songs of\nPraise, taken Pause For Thought on BBC Radio One\u00b4s breakfast show and also took\na turn on Celebrity Masterchef. This historic church will surely a perfect\nsetting as Kate talks about her own philosophy of life as well as wider issues\nof faith and well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\nmight, then, after such a very busy diary for the Saturday, expect the\nfollowing day of Sunday 20th<\/sup> October to be set aside as a day of\nrest. It might be appropriate, therefore, to take in the master class taster of\npractical support for your own manuscript in progress,\u2026.at whatever stage of\nprogress that might be. Matilda Johnson of The Golden Egg Academy will help you\nconsider how to start it, or if you have already done so, then on how to\ncontinue it and if you have made all that progress then will advise, too, on\nhow to finish it. This will take place in the intriguing nooks and crannies of\nNumber 10 Art Gallery that sits in one of the loveliest little alley ways in Rochdale.\nIt begins, though, at 10.00 a.m. so don\u00b4t expect a lie in after all those activities\nyesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nfact, Princess BMX and her author, Marie Basting, will have ben long up and\nabout in search of \u00b4the extreme sporting hero\u00b4 we all have inside us. There\u00b4ll\nbe flying tea-bags and videos of BMX brilliance all introduced by an author who\nhas worked with Rochdale Council for several years. This is a noon event on\nSunday 20th<\/sup> October at Rochdale Sixth Form College, where two\nfurther events will be held later in the afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robert\nReschild Stanley was, more than hundred years ago, twice the mayor of\nStalybridge a few miles down the road, and his story will certainly still be\nrelevant today in the multi-cultural borough of Rochdale. Stanley was one of\nthe first white men known to have converted to Islam and helped establish the\nfirst mosques to be built in England. When he died that element of his life was\nkept concealed until his great-great-great granddaughter, Christine Longden\nbegan exploring her family tree that these roots were again uncovered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\nwill talk about this at 2.00 pm, describing how  she grew up in the Tameside area around\nStalybridge and was the first of her family to attend university. She now\nmanages the Lorna Young Foundation that supports struggling farmers in\ndeveloping countries and her family, along with two others, have worked collaboratively\nto establish the ethical company, Dark Woods Coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\nhas now documented all this in two books, collectively entitled His Own Man\nthat piece together Stanley\u00b4s life, faith and family<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following\nthis you could stay at the same smart, modern venue to hear a talk from a poet\nand writer who has created \u00b4a powerful debut collection, heartfelt and\noriginal. Hafsah Bashir has a voice that rips your heart out.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At\n3.30 pm Hafsah will talk about her work as a writer, playwright and performance\npoet based in Manchester. She will reveal how she became a founder and\nco-director of Outside The Frame Arts, which serves as a strong platform for\nmarginalised or under-represented voices. She will also speak about The Celox\nAnd The Clot, that debut publication that earned her such praise, when\npublished last year by Burning Eye Books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hafsah\ncurrently serves as Writer In Residence, representing the town of Longsight in\nThe annual Manchester Arts Festival, and is also a supported artist of The\nRoyal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, as part of that organisation\u00b4s excellent\ncommunity outreach approach. She has quickly become an established Festival\nperformer, with sell- out talks and readings and important fellowships acquired\nalong the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\nthe final day of Rochdale Literature And Ideas Festival 2019 we return to the\n\u00b4mother ship \u2018at Number One Riverside, and once inside you will see how\napposite that tile is. It is a modernistic building of hidden offices and\ninfinite horizons<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nare still three events scheduled for daylight hours on Monday 21st<\/sup>\nOctober<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nfirst is a child-friendly session that sees Hannah Lee introducing, at 10.00\na.m.,  My Hair, a new book for children\nthat has been labelled as \u00b4heart-warming, joyous and vibrant\u00b4 about a little\ngirl\u00b4s search for the best party hair.  The book was highly commended in the Faber And\nAmblyn BAME Prize For Writing. This will be a fun morning of arts and crafts\nand lots of laughs as children design their own unique hair styles and create\ntheir own stories. There will be more fun in the same venue later on at 11.30\na.m. If you are anywhere between the ages of maybe six to ninety-six, then the\nchances are that somewhere along the way, between Gran\u00b4s End and Dawn O\u00b4Groats,\nyou will have enjoyed laughing along with the Shiny Pippin books written by Harry\nHeape. In fact, the author promises that this will be a fun and inter-active\nevent that, like all his stories, will have a beginning, a muddle and an end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Konnie Huq<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The\nafternoon event begins at 2.00 pm with Cookie Haque, a funny, science obsessed\ncharacter who is ready to take on the world. Cookie is introduced by author,\nbroadcaster and former Blue Peter presenter, Konnie Huq. Cookie is involved in\na new series of live draw-alongs, brain busters and games galore so be ready\nfor non-stop comedy fun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\ntake a breather afterwards, browse around the aisles to meet the L & I\u00b4s\nfriends from the Museum of Science And Industry as they conduct engineering\nexperiments, build kaleidoscopes and offer you all sorts of things to see and\ndo. From dinosaurs to digital, there will be something here for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nclosing event of the entire Rochdale Literature And Ideas Festival 2019 will be\nheld in the evening, just across The Butts, past the statue of Gracie Fields and\ninto the magnificent structure that is Rochdale Town Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\nthis closing event, though, you might find tickets hard to come by as sold out\nnotices for this \u00b4closing ceremony\u00b4 are already being posted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nevent will deliver a performance-reading of the Borough\u00b4s competition for\nplaywrights between the ages of fourteen and twenty five, and this will then be\nfollowed by a drinks reception where you can share your thoughts on the proposed\nrenovation and restoration of this building with its Great Halls, wide, winding\nstairs, historic panelled rooms and council chambers that will forever have us thinking,\n\u00b4wow, if these walls could talk!\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At\nthis event, A Different Story of Rochdale: Tales From The Town Hall you may\nhave the chance to see some of these rooms you probably haven\u00b4t yet seen and\nalso learn about plans for the multi-million pounds Heritage Lottery Funding\nrenovations that will take place when the building is closed in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So,\nto summarise after what is undoubtedly an extensive event listing, I would urge\nyou to catch whatever you can that takes your fancy. Rochdale is not-so-slowly\nrecovering ground it lost to neighbouring areas economically and in the leisure\nindustry, and there seem to be exciting times ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rochdale\nhas old churches and modern museums, exclusive galleries and \u00b4people\u00b4s\ngalleries\u00b4 amongst its arts venues. It has drama and dance, debate and dialect\nverse, and I have fond memories of gales of laughter that somehow always led to\nprofound periods of concentration and contemplation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis, after all, The Rochdale Literature And Ideas Festival, intended to be fun,\nthought provoking and to compel you to look again at a newly energetic town\ndetermined to escape the doldrums that have becalmed the area for more than fifty\nyears. Remember, though, that singer Lisa Stanfield has, in the words of her\nbiggest hit, been All Around The World and yet maintains her strong roots with\nher hometown and still has the Gracielands recording studio in the area.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LITERATURE AND IDEAS IN ROCHDALE The title of the festival reflects the wishes of the benefactors who, a few years ago, left a significant bequest to the borough library services. It also reflects the fact that history reminds that at least one of the world\u00b4s greatest ideas emerged from the town. Visitors to this year\u00b4s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aata"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}