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Central Standard

William Trowbridge: Ship Of Fool

Trowbridge in front of the Ruskin Art Club, where he is about to give a reading.
Trowbridge in front of the Ruskin Art Club, where he is about to give a reading.

Poet William Trowbridge has been appointed Missouri's next poet Laureate, and is the first Kansas City poet to receive the title.

He was a guest on Central Standard earlier this year, where he shared selections from his book Ship of Fool.

The collection features a series of poems about one of the oldest literary figures there is: the fool. The term “Ship of Fools” is one of the most enduring allegories in Western literature and art -- a vessel populated by mankind, oblivious of direction or destination… floating all in the same boat… each one a fool all by himself. In the case of Trowbridge's latest poetry collection, the archetype of the Fool stands alone on the ship.

William Trowbridge will serve a two-year term as the Missouri State Poet Laureate.