After nine months as interim executive director of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP), Michelle Aielli was named executive director in July. The organization she now oversees supports nearly eleven thousand members, including individual writers, MFA programs, literary centers, journals, and retreats, and it orchestrates the popular AWP Conference & Bookfair in a different host city each year. Aielli is a book publishing veteran with over twenty-five years of experience, most recently as a vice president and publishing director of Hachette Books at Hachette Book Group. She spoke about AWP’s priorities and the future of the literary arts. {read}