Super racist author on my personal statement

Ok thank you. I seem to have a thing for super controversial authors. Is Salman Rushdie worth the mention?

Ty again. I would definitely give the SVs a miss, but I have a lot to say on his use of magic realism in his novels

Hi, so I’ve just drafted my personal statement and I’ve realised that my favourite author who gets a lot of mention was a horrible racist (Jack London). Is it worth rewriting it, or putting something in to say I acknowledge. I obviously don’t want anyone thinking that I ignore it or am just ignorant of it. I’m applying for English btw

The thing about English is that there will be a lot of racist authors on the course, especially as part of a literature degree or even language. It's a natural part of any literary/language module. Heck, even A level/GCSE texts like Jekyll and Hyde, any Shakespeare text, A Streetcar Named Desire, Of Mice And Men etc. are written by controversial authors, mysoginists, racists, homophobic/internalised homphobic authors, transphobic authors etc. It's part of the package with a subject that looks over centuries of differing society.

For this reason I would not say to replace him solely for the controversies as that is a part of studying Literature at university! I am a third year student at Lancaster by the way and I have written so many essays on racism, feminism, lgbt interpretations etc. as that kind of contextual knowledge is key to a good essay, not just the content of the material itself.

If he has actual relevance to your statement put him on. Remember you are trying to highlight your skills and knowledge to the university!

Hope this helps,
Dominic (Lancaster Student Ambassador for English Literature and Creative Writing)