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Johnny Depp is known worldwide for being an actor, having created characters like famous captain Jack Sparrow. But the one who brought to life numerous and iconic fictional characters for decades doesn’t limit his artistic skills to the seventh art.
Arts and culture lover
It is well known by his most faithful fans that his first love was music, which he never gave up, since he started playing with some friends in a rock band called The Kids until his successful collaboration with Alice Cooper, Joe Perry and Tommy Henriksen in Hollywood Vampires, or even his recent tour with Jeff Beck.
But Johnny doesn’t stop there; he confessed being an all-art and culture lover in several occasions. In fact, during this last year we could get to know his facet as a painter, thanks to his NFT collection titled “Friends & Heroes”. However, one of his less known hobbies is literature. Johnny has always been an avid reader, and it’s not a secret that he loves reading poetry, to the point that he has also experimented writing his own poems.
But… what is beat poetry?
So much so that the US National Beat Poetry Foundation announced last 30th of July its award winners list for its next ceremony during this year’s National and International Beat Poeatry Festival, and this list includes no less than Johnny Depp himself.
But what is ‘Beat Poetry’? The word “beat” comes from a literary movement called “beat generation” that arose from a group of American writers during the 50’s decade, as well as the cultural phenomenon that they wrote about. You can read more about this movement in Wikipedia.
That’s how Johnny will be given a Lifetime New Generation Beat Poet Laureate award next 9th of September 2022, although we won’t get to see him attending the ceremony. The Foundation has confirmed via its Twitter account that Johnny will appear via video-link to receive his award.
Jack Kerouac, his favourite
Debbie Tosun Kilday, founder of this organisation, recalled recently Johnny’s first encounters with this genre: “Johnny Depp has been interested in beat movement since he was 15 years old and was given the Jack Kerouac book ‘On the Road’. […] he also particularly liked Kerouac’s book The Dharma Bums”. So was he, Johnny has been collecting Kerouac’s memorabilia when it came to auction. Kilday concluded highlighting Johnny’s humanitarian labour, who never stopped visiting children’s hospitals and making huge donations in their favour: “He’s a caring and compassionate man”, stated Kilday.
Johnny even participated on a documentary called “The Source”, back in 1999, in which he played Kerouac, the pioneer novelist of beat generation. You can watch the full documentary on YouTube:
We’ll keep in touch on any other details regarding this award. In the meantime, you can watch Johnny Depp reading Jack Kerouac:
Now tell us: did you know about Johnny Depp’s literary side? Write your opinion down in the comments section: