Katherine Payne

Katherine Payne is a PhD candidate in Comparative Literature at the City University of New York Graduate Center and serves as the Lost & Found Archival Research Fellow. Her academic foundation includes:

• MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing and Literary Translation from Columbia University
• PhD Candidate in Comparative Literature at the City University of New York Graduate Center

Her research centers on documentary poetics within 20th and 21st century American literature, extending to literary translation and creative nonfiction practice. This interdisciplinary focus manifests in publications across literary journals and translated works, reflecting intersections between theoretical frameworks and creative expression in contemporary writing.

She received the French Voices Award for co-translating Anne Dufourmantelle's Power of Gentleness: Meditations on the Risk of Living, highlighting her contribution to cross-cultural literary exchange.

Katherine actively shapes pedagogical and community spaces through teaching writing and literature at multiple New York City colleges, founding Crescendo: A Community of Writers, and leading free community writers groups that foster inclusive creative development beyond institutional boundaries.