Thank you both for your help! I also appreciate the link to your reply/thread with the similar question.
In terms of genre/area: I'm (broadly) interested in disability studies/neurocognitive studies/trauma and the use of experimental form/metaphor in contemporary poetry. These interests go hand in hand with the content/craft of my own poetry.
My poetry profs are mostly against the idea of a lit studies PhD, and my lit profs don't see the point in a CW PhD. However, they're also retiring/close to retirement and have admitted to being a bit out of the loop with this....
I'm also curious about the sense of community and how divided the critical and creative communities are there. If I go the critical route, I'd still want to participate in the creative community. The MA and MFA at my program are super separate and I'm wondering if it's the same kind of thing with most PhD programs.