I nhabiting the stately former Perth Centre for Photography building at 100 Aberdeen Street in Northbridge is The Centre for Stories. According to co-founders John and Caroline Wood, the centre's goal is to "provide people of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to tell, share and preserve the stories of our lives".
There are already many fine, long-established writers' centres in Perth which cater for a wide range of writers and other members of the community. But The Centre for Stories general manager Ada Chung says there is definitely room for another. 
"We're certainly not looking to compete with other writers' centres or offer the same types of workshops and events as they do," she says. 
"We hope to complement and round out the offerings that are currently in Perth. We're really about fostering the skills of storytelling, whether they be oral, written, audio-visual or digital."
Managing director and Margaret River Press founder Caroline Wood is equally adamant the centre is for the entire community, not just writers. "Writing is part of it but we want to be much broader than that. So it's very much a place for the general public."
Wood, who adds that she hopes to rent out office and even residential space to help fund the centre, says they're looking at partnering with publishers and other organisations such as Big Issue and the Family Inclusion Network to allow their members to tell their stories. 
"We want it to be about storytelling in all its forms," she says. "We want to make sure it's reflective of modern Australia and collect stories from marginalised groups -- a whole range that reflects what Australia is about.
"So from the homeless to the mining executive. The whole gamut."