After speaking with Christopher Perri for a few minutes, it became clear that this adjunct professor passes his passion and wit along to his students. A Geneseo alumnus, Perri has taught at his alma mater for the past eight semesters.
Of the several English classes including Creative Writing, Senior Reading and various freshman writing seminars that he teaches, Perri admits to enjoying English 142 (Literary Forms) the most. Perri finds the course so rewarding because it allows him to focus on sub-genres like short stories and science fiction.
When asked about his own writing, Perri gave insight into his process: "[When I'm writing] something grow[s] very slowly and it becomes something you couldn't not pay attention to."
Much of Perri's work includes short fiction stories; several have been published in a variety of literary journals. He maintains, though, that the short story genre is difficult to sell since most publishers prefer collections over individual stories. "Publishing has just become one of those things that it's hard to find time to devote to," Perri said.
Perri continues to write. One of his most recent pieces was inspired by the alternate identity he saw Geneseo assume the summer he spent here taking classes. He has also been tinkering with an idea to write a short story centered on the Friday nights he spent in ballroom dancing classes as a sixth and seventh grader in parochial school.
"I'll never forget the instructor's name," Perri said: Ms. Claire Leonard. He says that much like the saying ‘write what you know,' it's the "memories that stick with you" that your writing will end up reflecting.