About Us
the Accent Reading Series
Accent is a bilingual, bimonthly literary series and open mic that takes place at Bar Le Record on the first and third Sunday of every month.
Our Story
Established in 2019 by Devon Gallant and Luc-Antoine Chiasson, the Accent Reading Series was founded out of a desire to provide Montreal authors with a reliable venue to congregate and share their work with one another. Drawing inspiration from other long-running literary open mic series such as Toronto's Art Bar Poetry Series and Paris' Spoken Word Paris, Accent takes cues from each of these series to create something altogether new. Infamous for our unlimited open mic spots and the dreaded five-minute bell, over thirty open mic readers have graced the Accent stage on any given night.
Meet The Team
Devon gallant
Founder and Host
2019-Present
Devon Gallant is the founder of Cactus Press, a Montréal based micro-press dedicated to publishing poetry chapbooks by local authors, as well as the author of five full-length collections including, most recently, Bootleg Sake (Mosaic Press 2022). His work has been previously featured in Vallum, Graphite Publications, Carousel, and elsewhere. He is currently working on a time-hopping, triptych anthology focused on the theme of play.
Derek Godin
Host
2023-Present
Derek Godin is the writer of these words and many others. His debut chapbook My House but Not My House was published in 2021 by Cactus Press. He lives in Montréal, Canada with several other mammals. Anything you could possibly want to know about him can be found at derekgodin.com.
jean-guy forget
Host
2023-Present
Jean-Guy Forget est l’auteur du roman After (Hamac, 2018), du recueil de poésie Pleure pas, Cadillac (Del Busso, 2019) et le co-auteur avec Mélodie Bujold-Henri du recueil de poésie jeunesse, Déménager au ciel (La courte échelle, 2024). Il a également participé aux ouvrages collectifs Bad Boys (2019) et Pauvreté (2021) publiés aux Éditions Triptyque.
Jacky Den Haan
Host
2025-Present
Jacalyn den Haan is a poet, journalist, and outdoor sports enthusiast whose work has appeared in EVENT, Yolk, The Windsor Review, The Breach, and a few other places. She got involved with Accent in 2021 after publishing her debut poetry chapbook, Selected Leavings, with Cactus Press, and she's been hooked on the community ever since. When she's not at poetry events, you can usually find her at your local climbing wall.
Luc-Antoine Chiasson
Founder and Host
2019-2022
Jerome Ramcharitar
Host
2022-2023
Jerome Ramcharitar is a writer based in Montréal, Québec. Most of his days are spent teaching English as a second language and occasionally causing more trouble as a poet. He has co-hosted a number of literary events, most notably Accent Open Mic and The Lawn Chair Soirée. His first chapbook, The Wrong Poem and Others Like It, was published with Cactus Press and won Expozine’s Best Book Award in 2022. A first full-length collection, The Riddle of Three Crimson Doors, is published with Cactus Press in 2025.
Jade Palmer
Host
2023-2025
Jade Palmer (she/her) studied English and creative writing at Concordia University in Tiohti:áke/Montreal. Her poetry has been published in long con, Headlight Anthology, yolk, Encore Poetry Project, Soliloquies Anthology, and LBRNTH. She received the 2024 Concordia Creative Writing Award in Poetry for a poem about a very large horse, and she is warming up to drinking stout beer.