Chris Torrance
Chris Torrance is a poet associated with the British Poetry Revival.Biography
Born in Edinburgh, Torrance grew up in London and moved to rural Wales in 1970. He taught creative writing at Cardiff University for a number of years. He performs literary cabaret with the poetry and music group Poetheat, which he co-founded in 1985 with composer Chris Vine and which is now called Heat Poets.
His work shows the influence of the Beats, especially Gary Snyder and William Burroughs and an interest in the matter and monuments of ancient Britain, including such 'magical' or religious phenomena as ley lines. He has also expressed an admiration for the writings of Charles Olson and David Jones.
Torrance has featured in a number of key Revival anthologies, including ', Conductors of Chaos and '. His major work is the ongoing Magic Door sequence, of which seven books have been published to date. A collected edition of these books was republished in 2016 as The Magic Door by Test Centre.Selected publications
- Torrance, Chris; Torrance, Val Acrospirical Meanderings in a Tongue of the Time, London, Albion Village Press
- Citrinas , London, Albion Village Press
- The Rainbringer, Newcastle upon Tyne, Pig Press; 2nd revised edition, 1978.
- Heat Sonnets, Newcastle upon Tyne, Pig Press.
- The diary of Palug's Cat , Newcastle upon Tyne, Galloping Dog Press', ; also Swansea, Stone Lantern Audiobook on tape oclc=20672978
- The Book of Brychan , Newcastle upon Tyne, Galloping Dog Press; illustrations and cover design by Robin Campbell
- Cylinder Fragments of the Twentieth Century, Neath, Cwm Nedd Press,
- The Slim Book/Wet Pulp , Swansea, Stone Lantern Press
- Southerly Vector/The Book Of Heat – Further Books of the Magic Door, Neath, Cwm Nedd Press,
- The Book of Heat CD, Chris Torrance-Words, Chris Vine-Music, Innerstar; rerelease 2003
- Wobbly Chair, Dinas Powys, Canna Press
- Frinite CD, Chris Torrance-Words, Chris Vine-Music Dinas Powys, Canna Press
- Hare Pie, card designed by Deidre Farrell, signed by artist and author, Dinas Powys, Canna Press
- Path
