Women Caught in the Crossfire:One Woman’s Quest for Peace in the Midst of Civil War by Abuk Makuac and Susan Clark wins Silver in the 2024 Nautilus Book Awards! Congratulations to both authors for a well deserved prize!

Women Caught in the Crossfire:One Woman’s Quest for Peace in the Midst of Civil War documents the experiences of one woman among many that were thrust into the hardships of civil war in South Sudan during the violent struggle for independence from 1983 to 2011. It explores the question, What becomes of a good person when placed in the worst circumstances imaginable? Coming from a middle class background in South Sudan, Abuk Makuac and her young son are plunged without warning into hunger and homelessness, far from her homeland and stripped of all comforts she has known. She must fight daily to feed her son, gives birth in exile, and tries to keep alive hope where there is none. She finds solace in community with other women and emerges with her goodness intact, but not without paying a heavy price. This book invites us to witness, in both picture and story, the power of female resilience not only in one life but also in the life of a nation.

ABUK JERVAS MAKUAC was born in Rumbeck, Sudan August 1, 1962. She attended elementary school, Wau Junior High and Umbily Senior secondary school in Wau, where her father lived. She was married soon after high school to Makeir Benjamin, a political leader. In 1983 she and her husband and young son were forced to leave their middle class life in Southern Sudan when the civil war ignited. This book traces her and her children’s perilous flight, surviving in an overcrowded refugee camp in Ethiopia, living in hiding in Kenya, and eventually resettling in the US. As war intensified and her life in exile worsened, Ms. Makuac became more and more deeply convinced that peace must be known as the most basic need and right of every human being. Since resettling in the United States she has never forgotten her homeland. She served as Chairperson for the Women’s League of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement in the US, founded the Women’s Movement Against War uniting women in the diaspora, and currently serves as Chairperson of the Chamber of Women Entrepreneurs in Southern Sudan. She has spoken on behalf of South Sudanese women and children on many platforms throughout the world. Her deepest desire is that all women would have the freedom and resources needed to live and thrive in a better world.

SUSAN LYNN CLARK holds a doctorate in humanities and a masters in linguistics. Special areas of study include trauma and resilience in immigrant and refugee populations. Dr. Clark has worked with immigrants and refugees in the US since 1984, first helping with access to higher education, then teaching language and survival skills. Now she helps survivors heal the wounds their journeys occasioned. She currently serves as full-time therapist in a clinic for underserved populations in Fort Worth, Texas. Previously, she served in New York following 9/11, and in El Paso, Texas with unaccompanied minors from Central America who were detained in a military setting, and on medical missions to Central America where she provided continuing education to remote areas of Honduras affected by decades of violent unrest. She taught at the School of Social Work at UT Arlington, teaching mental health diagnosis and treatment and worked as counselor in domestic violence agencies in Dallas and beyond. 

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