Lady Who Launches

After a year co-helming the Aspen Writers’ Foundation, Adrienne Brodeur has helped reinvigorate the valley’s premier literary organization to inspire new talent.

Aspen Magazine Article By Rachel Walker

Photo: Chris Council and Emily Chaplin

In June 2012 Adrienne Brodeur visited here for the first time to attend Aspen Summer Words, the Aspen Writers’ Foundation’s flagship event. The New York-based editor and writer had been invited to speak on a panel about publishing and meet with aspiring authors, as well as launch The Editing Room, a service that pairs authors with industry pros who give editorial feedback. In addition, in a rather informal way, she interviewed for the job she now holds: creative director of the AWF.

“I knew immediately that Aspen was an extraordinary place,” recalls Brodeur. “It was a place conducive to this kind of work.”

The “kind of work” she’s referring to is elevating AWF to even greater national prominence. Already, the Summer Words conference is well-known, and the winter author series enjoys robust popularity among locals. But that initial summer revealed to Brodeur an opportunity to land Aspen on the literary landscape at a level never before reached.

“There is something so shockingly beautiful about the location,” says Brodeur. “Your physical environment as an artist or a writer is very transformational, and in Aspen I found a tremendous energy in the place and the people.”

Click here to read more

Angie D OGrady

Cooxist

Executive Leadership