Aspen Words’ Ascent Continues with Announcement of New Leadership

June 16, 2016

H

For Immediate Release
Contact: Caroline Tory
Program Associate
The Aspen Institute
Caroline.Tory@aspeninstitute.org

Aspen Words’ Ascent Continues with Announcement of New Leadership
Adrienne Brodeur and Jamie Kravitz to lead literary arts program

Aspen, Colorado, June 16, 2016 – On the eve of its 40th annual Summer Words Writing Conference and Literary Festival, Aspen Words announces a new leadership team of Adrienne Brodeur, Executive Director and Jamie Kravitz, Managing Director. After three and a half years as Executive Director for the literary arts non-profit and program of the Aspen Institute, Maurice “Mo” LaMee has accepted an opportunity to run the Theater Department at Colorado Mesa University.

“We will miss Mo greatly,” said Elliot Gerson, Executive Vice President of Public and Policy programs for the Aspen Institute. “He came to us from the Creede Repertory Theatre, and was given an opportunity he could not resist to return to his passion for the dramatic arts. He leaves Aspen Words in superb condition.”

An award-winning editor and published author, Adrienne Brodeur joined Aspen Words in 2013 as Creative Director. Prior to that, she worked as a consulting editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and founded the literary magazine Zoetrope: All Story, which won the prestigious National Magazine Award for Best Fiction during her tenure as its editor in chief. After three and a half years of partnership with LaMee at the helm of Colorado’s oldest literary arts non-profit, she is ideally positioned to bring Aspen Words to the next levels of success and influence.

“Adrienne has gotten to know the Aspen community extremely well, and understands and respects the institution’s local roots, services and contributions,” said Gerson. “She is able to assume her new executive responsibilities while based in New York City, our nation’s literary capital, because she will be teamed in Aspen with Jamie Kravitz, promoted to the new role of Managing Director.”

Kravitz has been a key driver of Aspen Words (formerly the Aspen Writers’ Foundation) for over a decade, providing oversight on all programming and development initiatives while embodying the organization’s spirit and mission. An active member of the Aspen and Roaring Fork Valley communities, she has previously worked for the Aspen Music Festival and School and the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, in addition to freelance writing for numerous magazines and newspapers nationwide.

“It’s a win all around,” said Tom Bernard, president of the Aspen Words Advisory Board and a Roaring Fork Valley resident. “Adrienne and Jamie, working with Mo over the last three and a half years, have improved Aspen Words’ programs to unsurpassed excellence. Together, they provide the experience, creativity, and passion to lead Aspen Words to the next level.”

Further Information

Complete bios for Adrienne Brodeur and Jamie Kravitz are available at www.aspenwords.org/about/staff

Aspen Words (formerly the Aspen Writers’ Foundation) was founded in Aspen in 1976 as a cutting edge poetry conference and literary magazine. Today Aspen Words (AW) is one of the nation’s leading literary centers and a stage for the world’s most prominent authors. AW programs employ literature as a tool for provoking thought, broadening perspectives, fostering connections, inspiring creativity, and giving voice. Since 2009, AW has partnered with the Aspen Institute, underscoring the highest humanistic ideals of Aspen founder Walter Paepcke: to better understand human challenges by cultivating one’s inner life through the exchange of words, stories, and ideas. AW’s stated mission is “encouraging writers, inspiring readers, and connecting people through the power of stories.” For more information, visit www.aspenwords.org

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.

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