It feels just a little weird - make that really weird - to be calling up a poet out of the blue and asking her to read one of her compositions down the phone. But this is exactly how Heather Christle is encouraging readers to experience her new collection, The Trees the Trees. Rather than hope people might come across her book in a shop, online, or at a literature festival, she recently published her US phone number on her website, as well as a list of poems to choose from. "Call me and I will read to you," it says. It's that simple. You don't have to be a journalist or a poetry expert. You just have to dial the number and listen.
And so it comes to pass that I interrupt Christle doing the dishes one morning in Atlanta, Georgia, hoping that she'll read me the intriguingly titled Poem Consisting Entirely Of Advice. She doesn't appear to mind. "I wish you'd called a bit later, though," she giggles. "I'm going to the hardware store in a bit and reading a poem next to the nails might have been quite fun."
The poem in question, she warns, is short. There is an awkward silence when it abruptly ends, although that might be because the line "what if he asks you/what are you looking at" is slightly unnerving. But what do you do in these circumstances? Clap? Make delighted whooping noises? There is, it seems, no etiquette to express appreciation for a solo poetry performance taking place in a kitchen thousands of miles away.
Sensing my slight unease, perhaps, Christle breezily says "that's it!" and starts laughing. But then, she's already had plenty of practice at disarming her listeners: she's just read a poem to somebody in Australia ("it was past midnight, their time!" she exclaims) and has fielded calls from Canada, the UK, and nearer to home, in the US.
"People do get anxious about calling me," she says, which is reassuring. "But it's a great experience both for them and me. I get these little glimpses of lives, people calling on their breaks at work, or from the beach. It's really cool.
"Writing these poems I had this 'you' that I kept addressing, without specifically knowing who that was. And I feel that every person who calls makes that 'you' grow in my mind just a little bit more. That is tremendously exciting."
Speaking to Christle, it's clear that even though she can't quite believe the "insane" response to her project, it isn't just a gimmick picked up via the internet and just as quickly spat out again. The poems are sharp meditations on modern life and the book, she tells me, is full of little nods to phones and phone calls. So it made sense to complete the circle by reading them through the same technology. "I didn't put the phone number on the site and invite calls because I was cynically dreaming up some cool new way to promote it," she says. "I was just genuinely intrigued to see what might happen if I did."
What happened is that Christle is finding herself on the phone more and more as word gets around. It's interesting that her project has been so popular. As she admits herself it's not an original idea - the New York poets Frank O'Hara and John Giorno were attempting something similar in the 1950s and 1960s. The difference in 2011 is that we're so used to living our lives digitally and virtually, actually speaking to a poet on the end of a line rather than engaging with them via e-mail, Facebook or Twitter is something of a novelty.
"I find it refreshing, definitely," she says. "It's invaluable to hear a poet read their work. I mean, it can be transformative, can't it? I wouldn't say what I'm doing is replacing the act of sitting and reading quietly, though, which can also be wonderful - and of course I also believe in text because I'm a poet, so I value those ways of communicating. But I've been most surprised with how generous people are when they listen to me. Not that I expect them to tell me that a poem I've just read them is amazing. But what I love, really love, is the notion that people want to call at all. If you step back and think about it, it's pretty unbelievable."
And with that, Christle says goodbye and gets ready for her trip to the hardware store. Poetry book - and phone - firmly in hand.
Heather Christle is reading from The Trees the Trees until Thursday. Call 00 1 (413) 570 3077 or visit www.thetreesthetrees.tumblr.com
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
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Analysis
Maros Sefcovic is juggling multiple international trade agreement files, but his message was clear when he spoke to The National on Wednesday.
The EU-UAE bilateral trade deal will be finalised soon, he said. It is in everyone’s interests to do so. Both sides want to move quickly and are in alignment. He said the UAE is a very important partner for the EU. It’s full speed ahead - and with some lofty ambitions - on the road to a free trade agreement.
We also talked about US-EU tariffs. He answered that both sides need to talk more and more often, but he is prepared to defend Europe's position and said diplomacy should be a guiding principle through the current moment.
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A cryptocurrency primer for beginners
Cryptocurrency Investing for Dummies – by Kiana Danial
There are several primers for investing in cryptocurrencies available online, including e-books written by people whose credentials fall apart on the second page of your preferred search engine.
Ms Danial is a finance coach and former currency analyst who writes for Nasdaq. Her broad-strokes primer (2019) breaks down investing in cryptocurrency into baby steps, while explaining the terms and technologies involved.
Although cryptocurrencies are a fast evolving world, this book offers a good insight into the game as well as providing some basic tips, strategies and warning signs.
Begin your cryptocurrency journey here.
Available at Magrudy’s , Dh104
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Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Company%20profile
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Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Brief scores:
Everton 0
Leicester City 1
Vardy 58'
CREW
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How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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UAE team
1. Chris Jones-Griffiths 2. Gio Fourie 3. Craig Nutt 4. Daniel Perry 5. Isaac Porter 6. Matt Mills 7. Hamish Anderson 8. Jaen Botes 9. Barry Dwyer 10. Luke Stevenson (captain) 11. Sean Carey 12. Andrew Powell 13. Saki Naisau 14. Thinus Steyn 15. Matt Richards
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16. Lukas Waddington 17. Murray Reason 18. Ahmed Moosa 19. Stephen Ferguson 20. Sean Stevens 21. Ed Armitage 22. Kini Natuna 23. Majid Al Balooshi
OPENING FIXTURES
Saturday September 12
Crystal Palace v Southampton
Fulham v Arsenal
Liverpool v Leeds United
Tottenham v Everton
West Brom v Leicester
West Ham v Newcastle
Monday September 14
Brighton v Chelsea
Sheffield United v Wolves
To be rescheduled
Burnley v Manchester United
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Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press
