Last night, I was in Ottawa, talking at its author’s festival (review here).  I spoke with Peter Pigott, author of the book, Canada in Sudan.  I spent my train ride thinking what I was going to as we blurred by early buds on trees and geese in straw strewn fields. Months ago, I had wondered [...]

Six Months in Sudan Dr. James Maskalyk the end. I decided that this book should start at the end. It is the place I am trying most to understand. This is it. I am standing in a field watching sparks from a huge bonfire float so high on hot drafts of air that they become [...]

into the world, this last sunday,  at Toronto’s Gladstone hotel. i arrived  with no notes, and no expectations.  my parents were there early, as were some of my closest friends.  as it drew nearer to 5, the room filled.  when i started speaking, 10 minutes later, there was only standing room.  soon people were being [...]

THE HAGUE (AFP) – The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague started hearing a dispute Saturday between north and south Sudan over the contested oil-rich Abyei region at the heart of a fragile peace pact. “Everybody in Sudan has a vested interest in the outcome of this arbitration,” Riek Machar Teny, deputy chairman of [...]

Ha.  Been fooled about that before. The other night, I was working overnight in the emergency room.  It was about 4 in the morning, maybe 5, the point in the night where your body wants most desperately to be lying down.  The department was quite busy, and from the bottom of the stack of people [...]

You perhaps have heard that another canadian was kidnapped in Sudan this week. this follows the abduction of three MSF workers last month in darfur, including canadian laura archer. a recent report from the “Centre on International Cooperation” in new york, detailing violence against humanitarian workers, says that violence against aid workers is becoming more [...]

i guess i am.  not sure i’ve been anywhere, though, except in my own head; thinking, writing, waiting.  the books almost here.  it’s been printed, and is sitting in a warehouse somewhere.  i’ve seen a copy.  it looks beautiful. i was at a friend’s house for a barbecue the other day, for earth hour.  we [...]