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Depending on when you catch up with Johnny Payne, director of Mount Saint Mary鈥檚 MFA in creative writing, he may have just published a novel. Or been rehearsing a play he鈥檚 written and is directing. Or published poetry. For Payne, moving between genres inspires his best work.

鈥淚 usually have two or three projects going at one time, and I publish in four genres,鈥� he says. His inspiration comes from the most unlikely sources. 鈥淥ne of my favorite inspirations came from a name I saw on an Irish tombstone: Kilcairn. I was immediately struck that something was about to happen to him,鈥� he says. Payne went on to write 鈥淐onfessions of a Gentleman Killer鈥� in which the 1843 character, Kilcairn, became a serial killer.

More and more people are interested in having these conversations, too. 鈥淥ur program is exploding!鈥� he says. 鈥淲hat we are building is nationally relevant. Our strengths are our intellectual component, our multiplicity of experiences and our understanding of our students.鈥� In response to student interest, this fall the MFA program will add two certificates: Latin American/Latino creative and analytic studies as well as publishing and editing. He ensures his growing alumni base stays connected by serving as panelists at the fall conference and attending the Parlor reading series, which brings in talented writers who share their work with students.

Next month, Payne鈥檚 collection of essays and poetry will be published under the pen name 脡tienne d鈥橝battoir.  鈥淚 chose a playful penname, because D'Abattoir sounds elegantly French, but in fact means 鈥榮laughterhouse.鈥欌��  He stages elegant takedowns of certain poetry in his essays, and it's a private joke or else a wink to a reader who understands French.  

鈥淭he use of a penname was suggested by my editor, who is famous for staging literary pranks,鈥� says Payne. 鈥淚t's fun to use an assumed name because it frees you up to speak in a voice that you wouldn't normally employ.  It's a way of extending my own thought."

And the ideas never stop coming. 鈥淚鈥檝e always got something incubating, but it can be exhausting to have so many ideas,鈥� he says with a laugh.