Seán Rafferty (born John Dickson Kerr Rafferty; 6 February 1909, in Dumfriesshire, Scotland – 4 December 1993, in Iddesleigh, Devon, England) was a Scottish poet, based in England from 1932 until his death.

Career

Rafferty studied Classics at the University of Edinburgh before moving to England in 1948. 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. Rafferty's poetry has been praised by Sorley MacLean, Ted Hughes, Michael Morpurgo and Hugh MacDiarmid and was posthumously published in collections by the 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 was landlord of the Duke Of York Inn. He lived in Iddesleigh until his death in 1993, at the age of 84.

Works

Books

Recordings