Johny Pitts

Johny Pitts is an English television presenter, writer and photographer from Firth Park, Sheffield. He is of mixed race heritage (his father is from New York and was in the '70s soul band the Fantastics'). Currently presenting Escape from Scorpion Island, Roar (UK TV series) and All Over the Place.,^[1] he also had stints on CDUK hosting with Lauren Laverne & Mylene Klass, Blue Peter and MTV.

Johny is a keen musician and member of the Bare Knuckle Soul collective, who have supported the likes of Omar, the Pharcyde, Plantlife and Alice Russell and garnered acclaim from Giles Peterson, Zane Lowe and Trevor Nelson, as well as appearing on the Norman Jay Good Times 7 compilation.

He has written for Blues & Soul magazine, Straight No Chaser & the Observer, and won the Decibel Penguin Prize for new writers with his short story 'Audience' appearing in the anthology 'The Map of Me' published by Penguin books. He studied poetry under Debjani Chatterjee and has performed solo and alongside renowned poets John Agard and Valerie Bloom at venues such as the Albany Theatre, the Jazz Café, the Big Chill Festival, Notting Hill Arts Club and the Soho Theatre.

Johny recently collaborated with the novelist Caryl Phillips and Art Angel on a photographic essay exploring immigration and the River Thames for the BBC/Arts Council's 'The Space', and founded the website www.afropean.com, which is part of the Guardian Newspaper's Africa Network, and the ENAR Foundation award winning 'Afropean Culture' page.

His photography has been featured in and on the front covers of The Journal of Postcolonial Writing and Harvard University's Transition Magazine.

References

1. ↑ All Over the Place, BBC website.