Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Wright.
Hi Daniel, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Well, I was born at a very early age, lol.
I’m originally from Chicago, but my Mom and I moved down here in the late 80s. I grew up in North County. Dellwood, Ferguson, and eventually Florissant. I was always liked to read. And I noticed from like five or six that I saw things differently.
Growing up, I spent a lot of time trying to be an expectation, but eventually, I gave in to my truer self and as soon as I started auditioning for plays and submitting poetry when I was a teenager, I feel like I found myself. And just when I was starting to find my voice as a young person in their 20s, my Mom passed and I had to put my life on hold for a few years to help raise my younger half-brother with my stepdad. And when my brother had graduated, I got out on my own and really made a go at music and poetry.
I started booking shows at a place called the Sci-Fi Lounge and was in a few bands. But when I dedicated myself solely to writing, I feel every weird thing in my life that I liked came together. I found this great community of other writers and poets and around that same time, a really cool arts scene was developing around Cherokee Street and this bar called the Livery Company with musicians and painters and we were the literary wing of that.
I started writing for a music magazine called Eleven and in 2014, I put out my first chapbook entitled “Working Bohemian’s Blues and Other Poems.” I put out a few more chapbooks over the next few years and in 2019, I released my first official full-length collection, “Rodeo of the Soul.” After that, I started touring across the country and during the pandemic, I released two other full-length collections. All the meanwhile, the local literary scene has grown by leaps and bounds.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. You have to bust your ass constantly to prove that this is your life. You have to have those “Come to Jesus” talks with yourself about how badly you want to pursue a passion. And as much as I love literature, it can be very difficult to be taken seriously, especially if you don’t have a degree. And that’s been the biggest thing: fighting to be taken seriously against matters that shouldn’t be as big a deal as they are, like the geography of where you live or whether or not you bothered to get an MFA. I will say though that I always count my blessings with the opportunities I have received. Because it’s never too late to find yourself back at the starting line.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Primarily I am a writer. So far, I have produced five smaller chapbooks and three full-length collections of poetry with my first collection of short stories coming out later this year. I am primarily known as a poet but I have written scripts, song lyrics, reviews, anything I can to further myself as a writer because everything is an opportunity.
If there’s anything I’m proud of, it’s seeing not just this literary scene in St. Louis evolve, but the independent literary scene at large. There are amazing pockets of great writers that have popped up over the past half dozen years. I’ve toured with some of them, given them a place to crash and vice versa. From 16th and Mission in San Francisco to edges of New Jersey, there has been something special brewing and it has been my complete honor to be a part of that.
That last question is weird for me because I don’t know if I’m qualified to answer that. That’s a question for the audience. I will say though that I may not be the best technical writer you’ll ever read, but I got heart, guts, determination, and I will not stop until I put out the best version of something that I can. On paper, I may be a dime a dozen. Another Hipster Harry Potter in a band t-shirt and a blazer. But when you see me perform, you’ll see why no one does what I do as well as I do it.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
My first thought is “Letters to a Young Poet” by Rainer Rilke. That book never fails to clear the cobwebs.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.daniel-w-wright.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dwrightwriter/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanielWWright1
Image Credits
Gabrielle Blanton for the black and white photo. The photo in the Beat Museum (with the Keith Richards shirt) was taken by Charlie Getter.
