Roberta Payne

Roberta Payne has studied at some of the nation's top universities, earning a BA in classics from Stanford, an MA in Italian from UCLA, an MA in romance languages from Harvard, and a PhD in comparative literature from the University of Denver -- but it is from her personal life that she's gained the knowledge most pertinent to her recent memoir, Speaking to My Madness: How I Searched for Myself in Schizophrenia. While experiencing alcoholism, schizophrenia, and cancer, Payne sustained a...See more

Roberta Payne has studied at some of the nation's top universities, earning a BA in classics from Stanford, an MA in Italian from UCLA, an MA in romance languages from Harvard, and a PhD in comparative literature from the University of Denver -- but it is from her personal life that she's gained the knowledge most pertinent to her recent memoir, Speaking to My Madness: How I Searched for Myself in Schizophrenia. While experiencing alcoholism, schizophrenia, and cancer, Payne sustained a peripatetic career teaching college English, Latin, and Italian, and this brings unique perspective to her book. Payne makes her home in Denver, Colorado, where she serves on the board of directors of the Mental Health Center of Denver. Her published work includes literary translations from Italian, short stories, and articles on schizophrenia. Her "outsider art," or the art of the mentally ill, has appeared on the cover of the mental health journal Schizophrenia Bulletin. Retired, she teaches Latin and Greek privately. See less