The Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Writers’ Trust of Canada to the best non-fiction book on Canadian political and social issues. It was presented for the first time in 2000. It is named in honour of Shaughnessy Cohen, a Liberal Member of Parliament who died [...]

The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize is a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of literature (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama) by an author from the Commonwealth aged 35 or under, written in English and published in the United Kingdom. Click here to read more about the shortlisted books.

“The more I get asked that question about why you wanted to be a doctor, I think I’ve come up with a correct answer and I think the answer is M*A*S*H*. I watched a lot of M*A*S*H* when I was a kid.”

“At some point in your career you have to recognize that your position of privilege in the society that you live in is predicated on the fact that you take care of the sick ones. That responsibility, in my opinion, doesn’t end at imaginary lines and I think that it extends to other parts of the world,” said Maskalyk when asked if a doctor has the obligation to lend his trade to those less fortunate, not just those who walk through hospital doors.

Maskalyk recalls taking to a mentor, early in his career, after he returned from a difficult time in Cambodia.

“I was tired, confused, you know, full of questions. I asked him, ‘Why should I be doing this in the first place?’ He said, ‘Because it’s your bloody duty, that’s why.’ And I thought, ‘he’s right’.”

“You have to imagine your fellow Canadians would find it egregious that people are suffering from treatable diseases in other parts of the world. I think that it’s something that should be part of one’s career if possible.

“As students, there’s that wonderful truth that you can really enunciate what you want to see in the world through your actions,” he says. “The privilege that you have been given to understand the world is unique and has the opportunity to encourage personal change and perhaps, with time, societal change as well.”

In some regards, articulating his experiences has given Maskalyk a greater sense of peace, though he admits he may never make complete peace with it. Although he physically left Sudan some time ago, the country, its people and the work he did there stays with him.

“My title, Six Months in Sudan is disingenuous,” Maskalyk says. “My engagement in Sudan and talking about it is much longer; it lasts a lifetime. And the only real truth I see in the world, unfortunately, is that we have to leave it at some time. The rest of it–what you do with the time that you’re given–is really up to you.”

Recently, the situation in Sudan got a lot worse. Some colleagues of mine got kidnapped, some of our sections left Darfur. My only compulsion after hearing such news is, How can I get back there? How can I continue doing this work? And rather than finding the answer to the question of how I can fit this kind of work into my life, I realize the real question has become, How can I fit a life into this kind of work?

Nov 16, 2009 – Interview – “World Vision Report” (14 min)

Dr. James Maskalyk is haunted by the memory of a pregnant Sudanese woman he couldn’t save.

CBC Newsworld – April 17, 2009

What do you hope people take away from the book?

I guess that, you make the world that you live in by acting, or not. And it’s not really this hopeless, helpless place. People are actually doing it. Right now. And this isn’t something that’s particularly heroic. It’s open to everyone to get the picture and to understand the world, and your place in it.

“a commanding new memoir….wrenching…vivid…at times, even funny….” – Rachel Giese