Rafferty’s Rules by Frank Rafferty (paperback)
£10.99
Funny, political and tender spoken-word poetry from Glaswegian-born, Derry-based poet Frank Rafferty, exploring class, identity, protest, love and loss.
Rafferty’s Rules by Frank Rafferty
Rafferty’s Rules
/raf:uh:tees ruːls/
slang c. 1910
The phrase, a play on the Irish surname Rafferty, is a way to say you aren’t playing by any rules at all.
Frank Rafferty has spent a lifetime finding words for the things that anger, amuse, trouble and sustain us. In his debut collection, the Glaswegian-born, Derry-based performance poet brings the energy and immediacy of spoken word to the page.
Named after the expression meaning that no rules apply, Rafferty’s Rules moves freely between biting political commentary, surreal comedy, personal memory, love, loss and reflections on class, identity and belonging. Rafferty writes in English and phonetic Glaswegian, preserving the rhythms, humour and rebellious force of his own voice.
These poems confront state violence, sectarianism, racism, inequality and attacks on working-class culture, while also celebrating friendship, community, the NHS, music, desire and the stubborn human capacity to laugh. One moment Rafferty is defending refugees or challenging political hypocrisy; the next he is remembering lost friends, imagining his former lives as a tree or documenting an eventful bus journey to Letterkenny.
Direct, compassionate and gloriously irreverent, this is poetry that invites readers to think, argue, remember—and occasionally laugh out loud.
The collection includes audience favourites My Granny Made Me an Anarchist, This Iz Thi Voys, Nae Pasaran Ya Bass, Your Health and A Random Selection from 100 Things That Keep Me Awake at Night.
Cover illustration by Rachael Johnson.
Rafferty’s Rules by Frank Rafferty Contents:
Absent
Notes From The Asylum
Past Lives
I Stopped
Mickey’s Monkey
Your Health
Elephant
Araphel
Templemore
Men Who Can’t Stop Marching
Snake
Mmajin
My Granny Made Me An Anarchist
Jazz
Service 64
Being A Tree
Do Not Belong To Others
This Iz Thi Voys
Nae Pasaran Ya Bass
A Random Selection from 100 things that
keep me awake at night
When I Die
Remainder
Lastwurds
https://youtu.be/Ky9k7l4bOfk?si=Py87ijRZZ15GcapB
Recited on the final Sunday evening at the second annual Dublin Lingo live poetry and spoken word, Red Pill (Belfast), Monday Night Cure (Derry/ Londonderry) showcase in the Workman’s Club, Wellington Quay, Dublin.
| Weight | .66 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 19.8 × 12.9 cm |
| Format | paperback |
| Extent | 52 |
| ISBN | 9781738429363 |
| Publication date | 20 June 2024 |
Frank Rafferty is a Glaswegian-born poet, spoken-word performer, occasional comedian and former punk singer who now lives in Derry. His varied working life has included jobs in sales, labouring, hospitality, education, community development and the arts.
He performs throughout the UK and Ireland and has helped organise the All Ulster Poetry Slam Championship and the All Ireland Poetry Slam Championship, alongside events for numerous literary and arts festivals in Northern Ireland. He also performs with the experimental punk band The Dead Thatchers, whose proceeds support foodbanks in Glasgow.
