Fool

by Greta Stoddart

When knowledge is ours at the tap of a key, what is it we’re accumulating, and is it at the expense of another, more intuitive, kind of knowing? The word ‘fool’ derives from the Latin follis, one of whose meanings is ‘empty-headed person’. Such mindlessness is not quite imaginable, but perhaps it is possible that by unknowing a thing we can start to see it differently. There’s a lot the fool doesn’t know – otherwise they wouldn’t be a fool – but can anyone be trusted to know anything? A low-level hum of discordance runs through these between inner and outer worlds, between the sceptical and the wondering mind. Ideas of belief and truth play out in various ways, often through lone figures, fools maybe, thinking aloud, continually distracted by the necessary performance of being.  Already an established and respected name in the world of poetry and drama,  Fool is Greta Stoddart’s fourth collection. Her third collection Alive Alive O was published by Bloodaxe in 2015.  In 2023, Greta Stoddart won a Cholmondeley Award, a prize which recognises a poet's body of work.

72 pages, Paperback

Published December 6, 2022

Reviews

[Marg Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heard Greta Stoddart read from this collection on Zoom organised by Wordsworth Grasmere. I hadn't read her work before but it was great. Varied forms and good ideas which means I'll re-read. 'Walking into church/is like walking/into someone's mind.' Lots of surprising images and thoughts that would read well in a novel.

[Taylor Franson-Thiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up.

I struggled with the rhetorical and reflective nature of some of these but there were a couple of wowzer moments. Fans of philosophical poetry will enjoy this. For my taste, I wish there had been more variety of grounded imagery work.