[2] Singer's father was a Manchester-born second-generation Jewish immigrant from Poland, his mother was of Irish, Scottish and Norwegian background.
His collaborative translations of Polish poets included Ignacy Krasicki, Juliusz Słowacki, Cyprian Norwid and Jerzy Peterkiewicz.
In 1945, at age 17, between two periods at Glasgow university, Singer went to Cornwall where he came into contact with W. S. Graham, a major poetic influence.
[2] After the 1951 suicide of his mother he returned to Scotland where he worked for four years the marine biology lab in Aberdeen, supporting his father.
In 1955, he married Marie Battle, an African-American psychologist; they moved to London, where he sought freelance work writing.