The Last Train (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781492704737)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR The renowned Abyei-born author and poet, Akol Miyen Kuol, also known as Akoldit was born in 1974 in Thurkuruk village. Due to the continuous political instability in Abyei region, he deserted the region in 1978 and underwent studies in northern Sudan. He left Sudan in January 1993 for Egypt and has since lived in exile until the country split into two in 2011. While in exile, Akol became engaged in Sudanese and South Sudanese cultural, literary and intellectual activities. In 2006, Akol worked with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) on Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement [CPA] during which he trained and facilitated dialogues between the civil society organizations, traditional chiefs and government officials and some legislators at the state and national levels on different levels of government in Sudan/South Sudan and the status of the implementation of the CPA. In 1997, the author was secretary-general of his native Ngok Dinka community in Egypt, who are struggling for the restoration of their homeland, Abyei, from Sudan to South Sudan. Between 1995 and 1997, he was Secretary for Culture and Information of the New Sudan Youth Union in Egypt. In 1997, he served as rapporteur of the Information Committee of the SPLM office in Egypt. From 2000 to 2001, he worked with UNICEF/Operation Lifeline Sudan on Life Skills Educational Programmes for South Sudan. He co-authored a booklet for UNICEF entitled, 'Life Skills Programme for South Sudan, HIV and AIDS, Information and Activity Book for Mentors', 2001. Akol was a contributor to the Sudan Mirror newspaper from 2004 to 2007 and was one of its columnists. His column was entitled 'The Sun Will be Rising'. Akol's poems have been aired over the BBC World Service and Sudan Radio Service on several occasions. He has so far published two poetry books and two other analytical books, namely, 'The Sun Will be Rising', 2001 and 'The Last Train', 2003, 'A Case for the Capacity of South Sudanese to Rule Themselves', 2009 and 'Sudan: Understanding the Oil-Rich Region of Abyei', 2011. He also published a paper in 1997 in Cairo, Egypt, entitled 'The Obstacles of Creativity in South Sudan', in which he proposed among other recommendations, a confederation system as a solution to Sudan and South Sudan problem. Akol is married to Christine Nyanakol Gordon Riak with whom he has three children, Mijak, Nyenawut and Kuol (Mandela, Jr).