Janou Saint-Denis (born 6 May 1930 in Montreal
– died 11 May 2000) was a
Québécoise poet, essayist, actress and director.
Biography
Janou Saint-Denis was born in Montreal and studied theatre at the LaSalle Conservatory and the
Théâtre du Nouveau Monde workshop. In addition to theatrical productions, she worked on radio and television, including the programme '.
Saint-Denis founded the théâtre Les Satellites de Montréal in 1957 and produced works of Quebec playwrights including
Claude Gauvreau
Claude Gauvreau (August 19, 1925 – July 7, 1971 in Montreal, Quebec) was a Canadian playwright, poet, sound poet and polemicist. He was a member of the radical Automatist movement and a contributor to the revolutionary Refus Global Manifest ...
and
Félix Leclerc
Félix Leclerc, (August 2, 1914 – August 8, 1988) was a French-Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, writer, actor and '' Québécois'' political activist. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 20, 1968. Leclerc was posth ...
. In 1959 the theatre opened for its first public readings of poetry.
In 1961 Saint-Denis received the National Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Saint-Denis left for Paris in 1961 where she remained for a decade, establishing a network of Quebec and French poets. Returning to Montreal, she founded Éditions du Soudain to hold poetry shows, notably the event ''Place aux Poètes'' held on Wednesdays starting on 5 February 1975.
Saint-Denis organized and hosted this event for 26 years, held in various businesses located generally on St-Denis Street in Montreal.
She also organized and hosted quatre Nuits de la poésie and co-hosted, with Michel Garneau, the
National Film Board Poetry Night.
Saint-Denis published numerous poems and texts in literary magazines including: ''l'Atelier littéraire de la Mauricie'' (Trois-Rivières), ''Sorcières'' (Paris), ''Femmes plurielle'' (Ottawa), ''Moebius'' and ''
Les Cahiers de la femme'' (Toronto), ''Canton s’met à faire de la poésie'' (Sherbrooke), ''Cahiers des arts visuels'' and ''Arcade''.
She was an honorary member of the Union of Quebec Writers.
The archives of Janou Saint-Denis are preserved in the Montreal archives centre of the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ).
Bibliography
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*''Les Carnets de l'Audace''
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References
External links
Janou Saint-Denison the website of l'Infocentre littéraire des écrivains québécois.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint-Denis, Janou
1930 births
2000 deaths
French Quebecers
Canadian women poets
Writers from Montreal
20th-century Canadian essayists
20th-century Canadian poets
Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery
20th-century Canadian women writers