Loft Literary Center director to depart

Jocelyn Hale, executive director of the Loft Literary Center, announced today that she will step down from the job in August.

The center, which has become nationally known for its writing programs, has enjoyed strong growth and success under the tenure of Hale, who has held the job since 2007.

Hale said she is happy to leave the center stronger and healthier than when she took the job. Among her achievements is launching an online learning program.

"We learned that people all over the world were really interested in taking our classes," she said. "So we now have students in Mumbai, Tel Aviv and London, which is really fun, plus students all over the country."

She said she's confident in the Loft's future and wants the organization to move forward as it celebrates its 40th anniversary.

"Telling stories is such a core part of the human experience," she said. "Whether you tell them in fiction, non-fiction, poetry, screenwriting — we are storytelling beings, and that is going to be an important part of our human experience forever."

Hale said the Loft will take advantage of a national writers' conference that takes place in to Minneapolis in April to interview possible candidates for a successor.

She said she'll stay involved with the Loft's transition to a new leader and then plans to take some time off to figure out what she wants to do next.