Basil Payne (23 June 1923 — 6 January 2012) was an Irish poet and lecturer.

This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (December 2015)

Payne was educated at Synge Street CBS and University College Dublin.^[1] In the 1960s he presented a number of lectures and poetry readings in Dublin including a one-man show at the Gate Theatre.^{[citation needed]} In 1964 and 1966, he won the Guinness International poetry prize.^{[citation needed]}

From 1972 to 1978 he lectured in literature at several universities in the USA.^[which?] His published work amounts to three books and several inclusions in anthologies of Irish poetry.^[which?] His first book, "Sunlight on a Square", and his final book, "Dark and Light Fantastic", are available in Amazon kindle digital format as is a collection of his Irish Times newspaper articles from the 1960s to the 1980s.^[2]

• Sunlight on a Square (Dublin, John Augustin, 1961, republished on Amazon Kindle, 2012);
• Love in the Afternoon (Dublin, Gill and MacMillan, 1971);
• Another Kind of Optimism (Dublin, Gill and MacMillan, 1974);
• Dark and Light Fantastic (Amazon Kindle, 2013)