Life
1928- ; b. 23 June, Dublin; ed. CBS Synge St. and UCD; worked as a health
insurance administator level (snr. management), to 1971; winner of Guinnes
International Poetry Prize, 1964; became full-time writer, 1972; lectured
in Engliat at Rutgers Univ., and Univ. of California; Governor’s
Special Citation for unique contribution to the Arts in New Jersey, USA,
1975; poetry coll. inc. Sunlight on a Square (1961); Love in
the Afternoon (1971); Another Kind of Optimism (1974); Voyage
à Deux (1974); Why are There So Many Blind People in Philadelphia
(1979), and Aspects of Love (1979); short stories and plays, In
Dublin’s Quare City; My Dublin, My America, and I Celebrate Myself and You; contrib. num. reviews to Irish Times and film reviews for RTE Radio , resp. in 1960s and 1970s; reputation
injured by reckless and illiberal profile in Robert Hogan’s Dictionary
of Irish Literature (1979); recipient of Arts Council Bursaries in
the 1980s; wrote and performed solo, Be Free With Me (Abbey 1984);
also Songs of Love, solo recital (National Concert Hall, 1989) . DIW DIL
[ top ]
References
A website (authorised) at www.basilpayne.net
contains a page entitled “Literary Assassination” and dealing
with the anonymous entry in Robert Hogan, ed., Dictionary of Irish
Literature (1979) - quoted in full - which the poet abstained from
suing solely on account of the financial costs involved. The site contains
numerous poems.
Notes
Letter to Sybil: There is a letter to Sybil le Brocquy, Basil Payne, Cortona, 137 Rathfarnham Road , Dublin 14, tel. 904241, and dated 3 Feb. 1968, covering a copy of a poem included in Austin Clarke's “Modern Anthology” on Radio Eireann (Mon. 4th Feb. 1968), with remarks: ‘As you'll gather, I've tried to hit off an appraisal of Yeats's aloof greatness – as captured by Henry Moore – and place it in counterpoint with the contemporary Ireland , political, social and cultural. But principally [verso] I've tried to be lighthearted – on the Kavanagh axiom of satire being ‘unfruitful prayer' You were present at the unveiling so you'll be able to assess how well (or otherwise) I've captured the atmosphere.’ [more]
[ top ]