Janou Saint-Denis
Janou Saint-Denis (6 May 1930 – 11 May 2000) was a Québécoise poet, essayist, actress and director.
Born in Montreal, she studied theatre at the LaSalle Conservatory and the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde workshop. She worked in theatre, radio and television, including the program Jeunesse dorée.
In 1957 she founded the Théâtre Les Satellites de Montréal and produced works by Quebec writers such as Claude Gauvreau and Félix Leclerc. The theatre opened for its first public poetry readings in 1959. In 1961 she received the National Award for Best Supporting Actress. She left for Paris in 1961 and stayed about ten years, building links between Quebec and French poets.
Back in Montreal, she founded Éditions du Soudain to present poetry shows, notably Place aux Poètes, which she organized starting February 5, 1975 and ran for 26 years in venues mainly on St-Denis Street. She also organized and hosted quatre Nuits de la poésie and co-hosted the National Film Board Poetry Night with Michel Garneau.
Saint-Denis published poems in many literary magazines, including l'Atelier littéraire de la Mauricie, Sorcières, Femmes plurielle, Moebius, Les Cahiers de la femme and Arcade. She was an honorary member of the Union of Quebec Writers. Her archives are kept at the Montreal archives center of Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ).
She is buried in Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 00:55 (CET).