Tim Pope ’13: You may have seen him walking down the hall, greeting every student that passes by him, or fulfilling his part-time duty as a bridge troll around campus. You may have even had him as a teacher or club advisor. But while many think they know him, few actually realize just how much there is behind Chris McCreary’s English teacher façade.
McCreary is a man for whom the descriptor “involved” would be an understatement. He is Episcopal’s Howard E. Morgan Chair of Creative Writing, advisor of the annual art magazine Epolitan, advisor to the Creative Writing Club, advisor and co-organizor of the annual One Act plays, advisor to the yearbook, Tabula, and most proudly, the current top competitor- allegedly tied for the position with Mr. Willis- in English department chess.
McCreary is also a life-long writer. His true appreciation for writing can be traced back to when he was a kid in middle school. He began by writing scary stories, but didn’t think much of it. He explained, “I never considered becoming a full-time author because it’s hard to make a living out of it.”
Nevertheless, the young McCreary continued to write, and eventually discovered his talent and passion for poetry. This switch in his writing came in light of his discovery of the work of Jack Kerouac. While also influenced by writers such as Edgar Allen Poe and Kelly Link, Jack Kerouac had a different effect on McCreary, because, he says, Kerouac took poetry and made it relevant to his own life. His other significant inspiration, Kelly Link, often went against the grain by experimenting with her style of writing, which particularly intrigued McCreary and provoked him to experiment with his own writing.
Yet the real reason McCreary writes is a fairly simple one. He loves to build from the “leftover junk” we have in our minds. “The interesting part about us [people] is how we make weird connections,” McCreary explained. He uses the common occurrence of writers block as an example of these connections that intrigue him. “Usually when I can’t think of anything,” McCreary noted, “I will go to the dictionary and pick out a couple words randomly off a page and try to connect them somehow.” This simple action often becomes the start of a poem or a line, and he will continue from there.
McCreary also faces another issue that many writers are familiar with: a lack of writing time. In the little free time he has, as both a teacher and a parent, he will work in weekly writing sessions. With this, his work may not be completed for weeks at a time, but this process allows him to remain creative without sacrificing time from his other duties.
Despite his numerous responsibilities at Episcopal, McCreary always makes sure to dedicate time to his students. Since his early teaching days as a college professor, he has always loved working with his students. However, what makes teaching at the high school level more rewarding for him is the students. He elaborated, “I began as a college professor but the main difference between high school and college is the energy and gradual maturity that can be seen from year to year from the students.”
When it comes to expression of the arts as an outlet, McCreary had this to say: “Soon there will be machines that can do things that most people can do and ultimately take more jobs. But the one thing a machine can’t do is be creative.” Being creative is one thing he has achieved and a lesson he tries to instill in every student he teaches and advises.
“We live in a beautiful world,” McCreary said, “and creative people will keep it beautiful.”

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