From Calgary

When Worlds Collide is a writer-reader festival that throws authors from different genres together. Which is kind of how we all are anyway. Thrown together. I don’t know anybody in the real world who just reads one kind of thing, so it’s nice to be here for this, um, collision.

The word ‘collision’ got tossed around quite a bit when I toured the Gates Vascular Institute last year. The place was designed to enhance interaction among the various disciplines involved. Doctors, physician assistants, nurse and techs interact with engineers, scientists, marketing professions and even – and can’t believe I’m saying this – writers. They all share ideas via informality. The goal is to save lives.

The device here is the same, though the goal is not so lofty. But, good literature does make life worth living. I’ll hang my new Calgary cowboy hat on that. I’ve got to. You don’t want me putting a valve in your heart.