Rafael Ballesteros Durán (born 7 October 1938 in Málaga) is a Spanish poet, writer, and politician. He earned a degree in Philosophy and Literature from the University of Granada, and worked as a high school professor of Language and Literature. He is a member of the Real Academia de Nobles Artes de Antequera and of the Ateneo de Málaga.
Ballesteros served as a member of the Congress of Deputies for the Málaga constituency representing the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) during the Constituent Legislature and five legislatures in the Congress of Deputies from 1977 to 1996. He was also President of the Congress Commission on Education and Culture between 1982 and 1996.
Ballesteros has published literary criticism on the poetry of authors such as Carriedo, M. Labordeta, Pérez Estrada, Vicente Núñez, Ricardo Molina, Moreno Villa, and Muñoz Rojas, in journals including ÃÂnsula, Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos, Papeles de Son Armadans, and Camp de LâÂÂArpa.
He is the author of several poetry collections, including:
Between 1983 and 2002 he published the four volumes of his long poem Jacinto. His poetry has been translated into French, Arabic, Romanian, English, Hungarian and Italian.
Ballesteros is also the author of several novels, among them: