Pohada Festival Pohada Festival
 
C.D. Payne relaxes C.D. Payne relaxes
On the road with C.D.

C.D. Payne started writing comic novels in 1990. Before that he wrote short humor pieces, screenplays, and dabbled in cartooning. (No, he didn't write the screenplay for the 'Youth in Revolt' movie.) He was born in Akron, Ohio and graduated from Harvard College with a degree in history. One grade-school teacher noted on his report card that he "often makes smart-aleck remarks." He lives with his wife in a house in Sonoma County, but frequently can be found in a wheeled domicile of some sort. In the summer of 2014 they did a three-month, 10,000-mile roadtrip to Maine and back in a 16-foot motorhome (see photo below).

2017
In June C.D. toured the Czech
Republic again as a guest of
Listování. This time the actors
presented scenes from five of
Payne's novel, followed by a
Q&A session with the author.
They gave 34 performances
over a 16-day period. Payne
also signed books at bookstores
in Brno and Prague. He was
able to attend a performance
in Ostrava of a play based on
Youth in Revolt. It was an
outstanding production with
creative staging and excellent
performances by the cast.

2013
In July, C.D. was a guest at the Pohoda Festival in Slovakia. Held on a former Warsaw Pact air force base, it's the largest music and arts festival in central Europe. He was the first American author to be invited to the festival. A video of his appearance there can be found on Youtube.

2012
C.D. toured the Czech Republic and Slovakia as a guest of Listování. This is a Czech-based theater group that coordinates stage performances with authors. Two actors gave a 55-minute dramatization of Payne's novel Invisibly Yours, followed by a question and answer session with the author. They toured 15 cities and gave 28 performances. Payne's trip was underwritten by Listování, his Czech publisher Jota, and the U.S. embassy in Prague. See a video of the tour.

2009
That fall C.D. Payne appeared at the University of Washington and U.C. Berkeley for sneak previews of the "Youth in Revolt" movie. At Berkeley twice as many students showed up as there were seats in the auditorium. As the film started--with hundreds of disappointed students milling around outside--someone set off a fire alarm. In a true Twispian moment police and fire units arrived to empty the building (required when an alarm is activated) and control the crowd. No one was trampled, and eventually they were let back in, the film was restarted, and the program resumed.
Listovani actors
Czech actors on the first Listování tour performing a play based on Invisibly Yours. The clever set was a portable vertical bed. The 2017 tour featured selections from five novels.
With its 8 outdoor stages and diverse arts offerings the Pohada Festival attracts an audience of over 30,000.
Payne at Pohada
morning in Maine morning in Maine
Camped on the Maine coast in 2014.
Payne answers audience questions at the Pohada Fest. It was the middle of the night his time.
Czech poster