Seán Rafferty
Seán Rafferty (5 February 1909, Kettleholm, Dumfriesshire, Scotland – 4 December 1998, Iddesleigh, Devon, England) was a Scottish poet, based in England from 1932 until his death. His poetry has been praised by Sorley MacLean, Ted Hughes, Michael Morpurgo and Hugh MacDiarmid and published in collections by the major British poetry presses Carcanet and Etruscan.
Personal life
The death of Rafferty's first wife, Betty Bryant, in 1945, by whom he had a daughter, figures prominently in his poetry. He married Peggy Laing in 1947 and the next year moved with her to Iddesleigh, Devon, where he lived until his death in 1998, aged 89.
Writing
Rafferty's poetic work is squarely within the Anglo-American modernist tradition, reflecting variously the influence of traditional English lyric, Celtic bardic poetry, balladry, and popular song.
Books by Seán Rafferty
- Collected Poems, edited by Nicholas Johnson, Manchester: Carcanet, 1995..
- Poems, edited by Nicholas Johnson, Buckfastleigh, South Devonshire : Etruscan Books ; Berkeley, CA : Distributed in America by SPD, 1999. [Revised and enlarged version of the 1995 Carcanet edition.]
- Poems, Revue Sketches, and Fragments, edited by Nicholas Johnson, Buckfastleigh, South Devonshire : Etruscan Books; Berkeley, CA : Distributed in America by SPD, 2004.
Recordings
- Various Artists - In Tune with the World: The Poetry of Seán Rafferty (2010 Brown Label Poetry), featuring readings by Jim Causley, Michael and Clare Morpurgo, Jane Fever and Vic Baines.
External links
| Persondata |
| Name |
Rafferty, Sean |
| Alternative names |
|
| Short description |
Poet and writer |
| Date of birth |
5 February 1909 |
| Place of birth |
Kettleholm, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, UK |
| Date of death |
4 December 1998 |
| Place of death |
Iddesleigh, Devon, England, UK |