That Blue Pause, the sixth collection by Irish poet Tony Frisby, is one which continues to deal with the major themes in Frisby's poetry, that of place, perspective and changing view-points. And how could it not be so - from leaving school in Ireland at 14 to embarking on his PhD in Northern Irish Poetry in an English University forty years later, then becoming what he himself terms 'an apprentice minor poet', his life has indeed been, 'a constantly changing assemblage of images and understandings of self.' [Lacan] Following his four collections in the Letters series which reflected on his 'new' life in England, his 94 page epic poem Me, Me and Not ME became even more personal featuring a host of doppelgangers, including 'The real, the imagined, the dead and alive, figures from Irish mythology and the arts, irascible uncles and siblings, a bard, an unholy trinity, a shadowy father, the clan MacFirbisig and a bellowing one-eyed bull '; all of whom, according to Frisby, 'occupy the space I once thought mine'. In That Blue Pause however, yet another dimension to Frisby's work emerges; one in which, 'With his trademark lyricism' he offers a 'reading' of some of his favourite works of art. 'The Potato Eaters' by Van Gogh is the inspiration for 'That Light' whilst the 'Boxer of Quirinal' inspired 'That Pugilist', both poems being re-interpretations of these well-known works of art which offer valuable insights into the thought processes that drive Frisby's poetic imagination.
About the Author: Having left school at fourteen, Tony Frisby then emigrated to England where, after a succession of labouring jobs he eventually returned to education thirty years later in London. Awarded a BA in Art History and an MA in Renaissance and Modern Literature from Brunel University he then embarked on a PhD in Northern Irish Poetry. However, by now smitten by the poetic form he abandoned his academic studies to concentrate on writing poetry rather than commenting on the genre. Having then moved to Brighton he started a series of poems written about, and from this, his 'third' place and in 2011, began collating and re-editing all his work for publication. Letters the Sea was followed by four others in the 'Letters' series and in 2014, Waterloo Press published his 94 page poem, Me Me and Not Me. A guest reader at the 2016 Blackwater International Poetry Festival, he is currently collating appropriate poems for three more collections also to be published by Waterloo; one specifically on art titled I See No Colours, and another of general poetry. The third, A Boreen in Co Waterford, is specifically focused on those issues of place and displacement which are of intense concern to Frisby both as poet and as someone who, first by necessity, then by force of circumstance, finds himself still living away from 'home'. He reads in venues throughout the South East including London; conducts poetry work-shops in public libraries and has also edited anthologies for poetry groups.