In the fall of 1980, some professors at Brigham Young University thought it was time to reemphasize the importance of good literature.
The Center for the Study of Christian Values in Literature was born, and since then has grown into a nationally known reference point on ethics and Christian literature.Jay Fox, director of the center and editor of its annual publication "Literature and Belief," said this organization is different from those at other universities that have a similar focus.
"We differ because we publish all genres of material on Christian literature," Fox said. These include scholarly essays, personal essays, poetry and interviews.
Most other publications limit themselves to one or two of these genres.
Fox wanted to emphasize that anyone can contribute to the center's "Literature and Belief." He also said the center is not opposed to LDS viewpoints, but prefers writing that would be accessible to a national audience.
In the future, the center would like to get more visibility in its work through cosponsoring conferences and the continuation of its national writing contest.
"I would like to see us do something more in the everyday application of ethical criticism to literature and film," Fox said.
Fox is not talking about censorship, he says. But he believes people could be better educated in ways to do ethical evaluations of different parts of their society.
In addition to the LDS community that BYU and the center are a part of, Fox said he wants to educate the "American" community as well, in the wake of increased interest in the governmental, religious and personal role in defining art.
"There is already a national community of people interested in the relationship between art and religion," he said. The center and its publications can be a focal point for that dialogue.
The center also publishes a series of monographs which focus on many subjects from the apocryphal writing about Susanna, to an analysis of C.S. Lewis. Fox said there are seven new monographs in various stages of preparation for publication, including some translations of medieval Christian plays.
For strictly LDS audiences, the center also cosponsors the David O. McKay Essay Contest, which is open to full-time BYU students.