Dan Wu

“Poetry and music are what speak to me the most, because of the variations in rhythm and structure, and the potential for word painting”.

Storybound is an interview series with people who have helped shape the Centre for Stories into what it is today. This series explores what it means to connect with people in our community who are captivated by stories.

Dan Wu is a semi-professional musician (currently on hiatus) and an amateur writer and photographer who is also a student completing their Certificate IV in Library and Information Services at North Metropolitan TAFE. They have served as a volunteer at the Centre for Stories since 2023.

Centre for Stories: What is your favourite way to consume stories?

Dan Wu: I’d say poetry and music are what speak to me the most, because of the variations in rhythm and structure, and the potential for word painting—the way that the words themselves can be manipulated for artistic effect, like an E.E. Cummings poem or Cocteau Twins lyrics. The usual length of a poem or song is also more manageable for someone with a variable attention span like me (although I do enjoy the occasional longer poem or album-length track).

CFS: What are you currently reading/watching/listening?

DW: I’ve been working through Scott Pilgrim Takes Off recently – actually, a friend of mine got me into the series, and it prompted me to finish reading the original graphic novels after I got partway through and then forgot to come back to it. Besides that, I’ve also been reading plenty of non-fiction – Carol Kaye’s autobiography and Beatles Gear by Andy Babiuk have been my current reads. I’ve been working on getting my reading habits back, especially fiction genres, but it’s nice to ease back in with something I enjoy.

Since listening to music is one of the main ways I spend my time, I’ve been diving into a lot of different things, so it’s hard to list them all. Most recently, I’ve had assorted indie, alternative, post-punk and queercore music mixed with rock and pop from the 1960s (there’s a lot of Beatles in the mix) all the way up to the 1990s because I felt I needed to expand my musical palette—as I’m working back into being musically active, I look anywhere for inspiration.

CFS: What have you been doing to get involved in the writing community?

DW: I’ve been volunteering at the Centre for Stories since last year and getting to know all the staff and other writers, interns and volunteers. I’ve also been doing my best to keep track of opportunities to get something published eventually. Although writing is an interest that I haven’t fully realised yet, I’m hoping to become more active in the writing community over time.

CFS: Who would you like to collaborate with in future?

DW: Other songwriters or poets–I find the collaborative process exciting, especially with the free exchange of ideas.

CFS: What is the best advice you could give or that you have received?

DW: As the old saying goes, perfect is the enemy of good. Get everything in your head out before you lose the spark—no matter how clunky or corny it sounds—then you can work on refining it later. It’s something that I keep in mind every time I create since I’m working on overcoming my own perfectionism.

CFS: How did you get into Library Studies?

DW: I had a warehouse job for a couple of years, but it wasn’t something I could do long term—it was very loud and hectic, so I was worn out a lot of the time. But then I started thinking that a library career would be something I can see myself doing long-term. So, I applied to the Certificate III in Library and Information Services course at North Metropolitan TAFE, and I started in January 2023, just after I left my job. Having completed that, I am now studying for and will complete the Certificate IV later in the year.

At Centre for Stories, we are captivated by stories. This state of being deeply immersed in the world of a story is something not unique to us, but a feeling many writers, facilitators, practitioners, and educators experience when connecting to stories and communities. ‘Storybound’ is an interview series with people who have helped shape the Centre for Stories into what it is today. This series explores what it means to connect with people who are as storybound as we are.

These stories have been licensed to Centre for Stories by the storyteller. For reproduction and distribution of these stories, please contact Centre for Stories.

This interview was published in 2024.