Life and work

Payne was educated at Synge Street CBS

Synge Street CBS

Synge Street CBS is a Christian Brothers School in Dublin 8, Ireland. It was founded in 1864.-Primary school:The primary section caters for boys from seven to twelve years. It is called Sancta Maria CBS. It opened in 1954.-Secondary school:...

 and University College Dublin

University College Dublin

University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...

. In the 1960s he held many poetry readings in Dublin, and in 1964 he won a Guinness International poetry prize, followed by another Guinness International prize in 1966. From 1972 to 1978 he lectured in literature at several universities in the USA, and in 1975 he received the Governor's Special Citation for unique contribution to the Arts in New Jersey. His published work amounts to three slim volumes, and numerous inclusions in anthologies of Irish poetry. According to his website, a more voluminous later work, Dark and Light Fantastic, remains unpublished. His first book "Sunlight on a Square" will soon be re-published on Lulu and Amazon kindle.

Published works

• Sunlight on a Square (Dublin, John Augustin, 1961);
• Love in the Afternoon (Dublin, Gill and MacMillan, 1971);
• Another Kind of Optimism (Dublin, Gill and MacMillan, 1974);

External links

• Basil Payne website Run by his son
• Irish Writers Online A concise bio-bibliographical dictionary of Irish writers, edited by Philip Casey
• Princess Grace Irish Library Comprehensive biographical & bibliographical information on 4,500 Irish writers