I am new to this site, so please inform me if I am on the wrong discussion board. Here is my question:
I am currently gathering my written material to apply to Chapman’s MFA Creative Writing Program; however, I am concerned about my fiction material because its setting is (basically) placed in one of Dante’s inferno layers of hell. This style of writing does not pool over into my non-fiction, but it is something that I like to explore in fiction. Being that Chapman is a Christian affiliated university, should I avoid submission of my fiction material? After all, my preferred genre is non-fiction and I would hate to offend anyone on the submission review board – especially to the point that it would result in rejection.
The political answer would be that I should want a program that is best for me and my styles of writing, so it shouldn’t matter. But that’s not what I am looking for. I want to know your opinion.
Until your last sentence, I was going to advise just that; to not go to a school where you have to squelch yourself. Even if it is not what you’re looking for, that is the answer. Maybe you need yo see if your style will fly at that school.
Being a Christian affiliated school doesn’t necessarily mean admissions would be offended. I’ve attended 2 such universities and I’m not sure the majority of my professors were religious at all. If the school is known for its affiliation and it is taken quite seriously, then is this a program you want to learn and grow in as a writer, if you cannot pursue the genre you want? If you are more interested in creative non-fiction, and this program has a lot to offer you in that realm, then I would submit your best representations in that genre.
A university being affiliated with a religious organization or church doesn’t mean that the school is a religious school that adheres to religious tenets. For example, Emory is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, and Georgetown and Boston College are both Roman Catholic (Jesuit) institutions. They’re still primarily secular institutions with secular (and mostly liberal) professoriates. They’re very different from applying to, say, Baylor or Brigham Young, both of which are religious universities that incorporate their religion into the teachings and student life at the school. I’m pretty sure that Chapman falls into the former group, not the latter.
So I don’t think you should have a problem.
But, the “political answer” actually happens to be my opinion. Creative writing is something that’s highly personal, and if you are in a program that doesn’t allow you to explore your own style and interests freely, it’s not a good MFA program for you. There’s no point in fighting to get into a program only to find out it’s a bad fit and doesn’t help develop you.
