Dragan spent July of 1998 in Canadian Rockies, sitting days and nights in a rounded shack in a secluded forest area of Banff Centre for the Arts. This was a writing studio he had during the Cultural Journalism program. This whole idea revolves around a simple premise: bring several experienced writers, give them one month, a room and a studio, an editor, and let them chase their own demons. Those who come out alive will leave their stories to the host, and leave without looking back.

During that month he wrote an essay about the events he witnessed in Belgrade when the war started. His focus was on how the Yugoslav war influenced artists, what it did to their works, and how it affected their lives and perception of their surroundings. He felt fortunate to work with Barbara Moon, who was generous enough to be not only his editor, but also his psychoanalyst. When he laid down the early version of the essay, it was only a Black Forest, full of beings fighting for their rights. With Barbara’s help, he found paths to liberate them all, and still keep the trees intact.

“To arrive where you are” holds 12 pieces by writers who shared the experience of Banff over the years. These authors are a great company to be in, among them Dragan's friends Patricia Pearson and Mark Anthony Jarman, and other people whose work he loves and admires. The editors on the project were Kim Echlin, Barbara Moon and Don Obe.

That essay, titled “Ticket to Fiction: Art & War in Belgrade” was published as part of this collection (you can read an excerpt in the Articles section).