Chris Torrance (1941 – 21 August 2021) was a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

associated with the

British Poetry Revival "The British Poetry Revival" is the general name given to a loose poetry movement in Britain that took place in the 1960s and 1970s. The revival was a modernist-inspired reaction to the Movement's more conservative approach to British poetry. T ...

of the 1960s, mainly known for long poetry cycle ''The Magic Door'' published as a series of volumes over 30 years.

Biography

Born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in 1941, Torrance grew up in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and moved to

Pontneddfechan Pontneddfechan, also known as Pontneathvaughan (pronounced ) ("bridge over the Little Neath" in Welsh) is the southernmost village in the county of Brecknockshire, Wales, within the Vale of Neath, in the community of Ystradfellte and in the prin ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in 1970. He taught an extramural creative writing course at University College Cardiff for 25 years. He performed literary cabaret with the poetry and music group Poetheat, which he co-founded in 1985 with composer Chris Vine, later called Heat Poets. Hilton, Jeremy (19 September 2021
"Chris Torrance obituary"
''The Guardian'' His work shows the influence of the Beats, especially

Gary Snyder Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate of ...

and

William Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultu ...

and an interest in the

matter In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic partic ...

and monuments of ancient Britain, including such 'magical' or religious phenomena as

ley lines Ley lines () are straight alignments drawn between various historic structures and prominent landmarks. The idea was developed in early 20th-century Europe, with ley line believers arguing that these alignments were recognised by ancient socie ...

. He also expressed an admiration for the writings of

Charles Olson Charles Olson (27 December 1910 – 10 January 1970) was a second generation modern American poet who was a link between earlier figures such as Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams and the New American poets, which includes the New York ...

and David Jones. He is one of the poets discussed in William Rowe's ''Three Lyric Poets'' (Northcote House, 2009). Torrance has featured in a number of key Revival magazines including ''Poetmeat'' and the anthologies '' Children of Albion: Poetry of the Underground in Britain'' (1969), ''

Conductors of Chaos ''Conductors of Chaos: A Poetry Anthology'' is a poetry anthology edited by Iain Sinclair, and published in the United Kingdom in 1996 by Picador. Sinclair in the Introduction wrote that "The secret history of ... 'the British Poetry Revival' ...

'' (1996) and '' Other: British and Irish Poetry since 1970'' (1999). His major work was the ongoing ''Magic Door'' sequence, of which eight books have been published to date by various publishers. The ninth volume, ''Path'' was prepared for publication in 2008 but was not released. In 2017 Torrance noted that there were a further three volumes in the pipeline. A collected edition of the first eight books was published in 2017 as ''The Magic Door'' by Test Centre with an introduction by Phil Maillard. The sequence follows his life at Glyn y Mercher Isaf, recording his practical activities, his love life, and his engagement with nature, mythology, geology and history. He develops the concept of a landscape filled with powers - ley lines and standing stones, pagan gods and spirits, and focuses on the nearby standing stones of

Maen Madoc The Maen Madoc or Maen Madog stone is a menhir which lies adjacent to the Roman road Sarn Helen that runs across the Brecon Beacons in what was a key area of Roman Wales, about one mile (2 km) north of Ystradfellte. It stands approximatel ...

and Maen Llia and the 19th century house of Glan yr Afon which incorporates geological oddities and an elaborate stone archway. Torrance died on 19 September 2021 at the age of 80.

Selected publications

The Magic Door sequence

*Torrance, Chris; Torrance, Val (1973) ''Acrospirical Meanderings in a Tongue of the Time'', London, Albion Village Press * *''Citrinas'' (''The Magic Door'', Book II) (1977), London, Albion Village Press *''The diary of Palug's Cat'' (''The Magic Door'', Book III) (1980), Newcastle upon Tyne, Galloping Dog Press', ; also Swansea, Stone Lantern Audiobook on tape oclc=20672978 *''The Book of Brychan'' (''The Magic Door'', Book IV) (1982), Newcastle upon Tyne, Galloping Dog Press; illustrations and cover design by Robin Campbell *''Cylinder Fragments of the Twentieth Century'' (1982), Neath, Cwm Nedd Press, *''The Slim Book/Wet Pulp'' (''The Magic Door'', Book V) (1986), Swansea, Stone Lantern Press *''Southerly Vector/The Book Of Heat – Further Books of the Magic Door'' (1996), Neath, Cwm Nedd Press, *''Path'' (''The Magic Door'', Book 7) (prepared by Heaventree Press, 2008, but not released) *''The Magic Door'' (Test Centre, 2017)

Other poetry

* * * * *''The Rainbringer'' (1977), Newcastle upon Tyne, Pig Press; 2nd revised edition, 1978. *''Heat Sonnets'' (1979), Newcastle upon Tyne, Pig Press. * * *''The Book of Heat'' CD, Chris Torrance-Words, Chris Vine-Music (1998), Innerstar; rerelease 2003 *''Wobbly Chair'' (2003), Dinas Powys, Canna Press *''Frinite'' CD, Chris Torrance-Words, Chris Vine-Music (2004) Dinas Powys, Canna Press *''Hare Pie'', card designed by Deidre Farrell (2007), signed by artist and author, Dinas Powys, Canna Press *Chris Torrance and Chris Vine ''Rory: A book of the boundaries'' * Thirty poems in Graham Harthill, Phil Maillard and Chris Torrance ''Slipping the Leash'' (2015), Llangattock (Powys), Aquifer Books

Critical works

"Death of the poem?", ''A470: what's on in literary Wales'', No. 26 (Nov.-Dec. 2003), p.6.

References

External links

Chris Torrance at the Strange Attractor Web siteThe Insider (profile of Chris Torrance) (Western Mail 2011) Obituary (The Guardian 2021)
1941 births 2021 deaths British poets British Poetry Revival Academics of Cardiff University Writers from Edinburgh British male poets 21st-century British male writers {{UK-poet-stub