^{Mark says: "Welcome to my home page. Abandon hope all ye who enter here!"}

This is the home page of Mark Allen...From the above icons you can e-mail me, see some of my photographs, read my blog, poetry or even take a look at some of my reviews... Have fun!

A little about me... I was born in Staffordshire and went to university in Manchester and Utrecht (Holland) before travelling a bit in Europe and the USA and doing my journalism training in Sheffield.

I worked on local weekly papers before landing a job on the daily evening Express & Star. During my time there I interviewed our 'lovely' Prime Minister Tony Blair, Michael Howard, William Hague, Depeche Mode and Julian Clary (among others..)

As well as news I did many features and music reviews. I was sent to report from the problems in Belfast in  Northern Ireland, filed stories from places including Tunisia and Gibraltar as well as music festivals and crown courts. (All human life!)

I left the UK in 1999 to be in Australia for the millennium and spent a year circumnavigating the continent working in various jobs from removals to cleaning up kangaroo poo (yes really!)

I spent a few weeks travelling through Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos before going to work as an English teacher in a school in the wacky country of South Korea. During my time there I went to China, Japan, Canada.

I fell ill in Korea (I have Cystic Fibrosis) and was ventilated for too long causing many health problems. I had 30 operations on my return to the UK and now am waiting a double-lung transplant. I have been on 'the list' for 18 months...

While 'on the 'list' I have been writing a weekly column for a newspaper, been on BBC TV and radio and been featured in all local media....as well as writing music and poetry. I also maintain a blog about my unusual life...spent trying to stay well!


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