Some people have jobs. Kerry Sherin Wright has what to her feels like a vocation.

As director of the Philadelphia Alumni Writers House, adjunct assistant professor of English and executive director of Poetry Paths, she works with writers and readers at Franklin & Marshall College and in the Lancaster community to foster creativity.

And it seems she gets as good as she gives.

"I'm halfway through [writing] a novel that's taken me a long time, and it's coming more easily now," the 45-year-old city resident said. She attributes that to "how much I've learned ... from being in a place where writers and the craft of writing are always under discussion."

Fringe benefits of her employment include a better understanding of "the craft of storytelling ... and a faith in artful words."

Hometown: Stuyvesant Falls, N.Y., on the Hudson River.

Family: Husband, aerial landscape painter and photographer Scott Wright, and son, Skyler, who turned 6 Saturday.

Education: Bachelor's degree in religious studies, University of Pennsylvania; doctorate in English literature, Temple University.

Growing up, I wanted to be: A psychiatrist.

First job: We lived in a former pizza restaurant next to our family's Nite Owl Motel. My four brothers and sisters and I helped clean the rooms and delivered coffee and snacks to our guests.

My father always told me: To take advantage of opportunities that came our way. We didn't have a lot of money ... but if any of us was offered a chance to travel or go to a special program or attend a sports camp, my parents always found a way to get us there.

A cause I really support: Arts and humanities education for schoolchildren — and their parents! I believe kids and adults need to be taught and inspired throughout their lives to be imaginative and creative, not only because they'll learn to "enjoy the arts," but because thinking creatively is an invaluable life skill that can have great practical benefits.

Community involvement: I'm very proud to serve on the board of the James Street Improvement District.

One thing I'd change about myself: I'd call my mom and siblings more often.

Best advice for writers:  Don't think about it too much. If you work steadily, all of your questions will fall by the wayside.

Favorite writers: The writer friends I've made here in Lancaster: Sands Hall, Scott Vine, Ellen Brown, Jeff Steinbrink, Barbara Strasko, Kabi Hartman, Patricia O'Hara, Marci Nelligan, Stephanie Reents, Nick Montemarano, Katie Ford — and my husband, who doesn't call himself a writer but could. And Skyler, whose most recent books are "The Fierce Wars" and "The Battle for the Helmet of Victory." Other writers I like a lot right now are David Means and Annie Proulx.

My publication history: Poems and short stories in various small magazines and feature articles, essays, and reviews for Philadelphia Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Bride's Magazine, among others.

Best book received as a gift: A used, leather-bound edition of the collected works of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

A writer I'd like to meet: I get to meet so many extraordinary writers that there really isn't any one writer I long to meet.

Sometimes a writer whose work you really love turns out to be a bit of a bummer in person. I am thinking of the poet T.S. Eliot, whose poetry was the subject of my dissertation. He was the first poet whose work gripped me, and I've been reading his poems for 30 years. But after reading his letters and numerous biographies of him, I am convinced that if we did meet, we would abhor each other. I never understood his sense of humor. (He liked to send his friends obscene doggerel verse.) And he didn't look favorably on the kind of woman I am.

I collect: Graphic novels. I've got a decent collection. Or so I think until I go to The Comic Store!

A place conducive to writing: The Prince Street Cafe.

A less conducive place: My office at home. Even if I barred the door, paid everyone bribes to leave me alone, and rigged the door knob with firecrackers, my family would find a compelling and urgent reason to come in.

People might be surprised to know: I went to college as a chemical engineering major. As soon as I took my first humanities course, I jumped ship.