[2] Born in Edinburgh in 1941, Torrance grew up in London and moved to Pontneddfechan, Wales 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.
[3] 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.
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.