A UTTOXETER man has been crowned a national poetry champ for a second time.

Drawing on his own life experiences, Philip Jupp of Bramshall has once again impressed competition judges with his latest literary achievement, by gaining a place in the 2009 Poetry Anthology. Two times poetry champ Phillip, of Leigh Lane, Bramshall, recently received news that he has been crowned overall winner for the Uttoxeter area, with his poem ‘Moonlighting’. The National Poetry Anthology poetry competition takes place annually, and for the past two years, 65 year old Philip has enjoyed success after entering his work.

The Bramshall man, who recently retired after a successful career as a self employed electrician, is now hoping to focus more firmly on writing - one of his abiding interests. Speaking to the Times and Echo earlier this week, Phillip commented: “This is not the first poem I have written, and after many years of being strictly amateur I have recently got myself an agent.

“Hopefully this will lead to me being able to write commercially, as I have a book on the go at the moment.” Phillip has been writing for more than 20 years, and has penned many short stories, songs and poems and is currently working on a novel which, although fiction, is set among real places, names and events. The centre of the activity in his new book is Uttoxeter, which has been Phillip’s home for forty years, and will be titled ‘Brothers of the Hood’ - so look out for this when it hits the shelves.  

Author of: Rosslyn: Between Two Worlds, The View From the Abyss, The Barriers of Belief, The Hole in the Sky and The Believers

A strong and prolific writer, Brian Allan is a lifelong researcher into the mysteries and contradictions posed by paranormal phenomena and has devoted his life to seeking answers to some of these anomalies. This has involved him in a series of ‘hands on’ investigations encompassing everything from poltergeist infestations, hauntings and spirit possession to claims of alien abduction. From this solid groundwork he has developed a reputation as a speaker and presenter at various conferences across the length and breadth of the United Kingdom. This in turn developed into Brian acting as an adviser and participant in various international TV and radio broadcasts involving almost all aspects of the paranormal.

Following years of active investigations, which allowed truly amazing glimpses and encounters with things normally hidden for view, Brian began specialising in the esoteric aspects of Rosslyn Chapel and in 2005, along with a small hand selected team, he was permitted to test some of his theories involving specific sonic frequencies within its enigmatic structure. This in turn lead to the discovery of a area inside the Chapel which Brian is convinced is a still active ‘portal’ leading to what may be a store of forbidden knowledge. Unfortunately, for various reasons he has been unable to continue with this project although this situation may change in the future.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Brian decided to commit some his cases and the fascinating research that they required to paper in a series of books, six so far, in order to share his discoveries and theories with others who have similar interests. Much of what Brian writes about reveals that there are a number of fundamental and immutable truths governing the nature of what we perceive around us and that we live in a multiverse inhabited by beings utterly unlike the human race. In Brian’s books we also discover that magic is a technology like any other and that quantum physics may hold the secrets to this most arcane of subjects.

In his latest book, The ‘Chronicles of the Damned’ Brian reveals that those deemed as ‘damned’ or castigated as ‘heretics’ both spiritually and otherwise are often those who merely chose to follow a different path to that of convention. He also shows that the power behind magic is absolutely neutral, the categories of magic, be they ‘black’ or ‘white’, depends entirely on those who wield it.