Tanya Selvaratnam is a writer, artist, and an Emmy-nominated and multiple Webby-winning producer with more than twenty-five years of experience in the arts & social justice.
My book tour for Assume Nothing: A Story of Intimate Violence has launched with a series of virtual events with Cindi Leive, Andrew Solomon, Tiffany Shlain, Farai Chideya, Liz Plank, Eileen Hoenigman Meyer, and Carrie Mae Weems.
Publishers Weekly announced the sale to Harper. Assume Nothing has been optioned by ABC Signature/Disney Television Studios and is in development with Joanna Coles as executive producer.
Order here and help spread the word with the assets in the toolkit:
Some press:
Piece I wrote for NBC News about the next wave of #MeToo and interview with Stephanie Ruhle
Piece I wrote for Glamour about how America is getting out of an abusive relationship
Piece I wrote for Cosmo about Cuomo's response to the allegations against him
The New Yorker interview with David Remnick, in which we talk about the Cuomo accusations
People Magazine interview with Sam Gillette
The Guardian feature by Edward Helmore
Good Morning America interview with Janai Norman
Ten Percent Happier/ABC interview with Dan Harris
PIX11 Morning News interview with Dan Mannarino and Betty Nguyen
WNYC/All Of It with Alison Stewart
Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books with Zibby Owens
KQED/Our Body Politic with Farai Chideya
Please sign up for my mailing list at the end of this page and follow @TanyaAuthor on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for updates. Library Journal reviewed the book as "a searing, yet sensitive account of vulnerability and redemption that will find a wide audience." Kirkus Reviews called Assume Nothing "a courageous and compelling example of an author writing her 'way out of the darkness.'"
Ms. Magazine included the book on its list of the 100 most anticipated releases of 2021. And it’s a top pick for February on gma.com from Zibby Owens. In addition, you can see advance praise in this piece by Virginia Heffernan in the Los Angeles Times and this conversation with Miss Universe Zozi Tunzi about the signs of an abusive relationship.
I am proud to have worked on this tribute video about Vice-President Harris for Glamour Women of the Year. https://www.glamour.com/video/watch/kamala-harris-tribute
Please read this editorial I wrote for The Art Newspaper about artists throwing down their gloves and getting political:
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/comment/for-the-arts-there-s-only-one-choice-in-this-election
And this one for SheKnows about what was at stake for domestic violence survivors in the election:
Terrific article on the track record of Biden and Harris on the arts:
https://hyperallergic.com/586354/joe-biden-kamala-harris-arts/
Please also check out this conversation with the filmmakers of SURGE (Hannah Rosenzweig and Wendy Sachs), Jana Lynne Sanchez of Texas, and special guest Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DEL, Biden campaign co-chair). I moderated and am proud to be an executive producer of SURGE, now on Showtime and Amazon. https://www.facebook.com/ArtsForBiden/videos/548254519258305/
I wrote a piece for the New York Times about “Where Can Domestic Violence Victims Turn During Covid-19?”: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/covid-domestic-violence.html
In connection with the piece, I had the following conversations:
With Miss Universe Zozi Tunzi on Instagram Live
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B-hUR6dAyKZ
And on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=667036417381211
With Alison Stewart for ALL OF IT/WNYC
https://www.wnyc.org/story/tanya-selvaratnam-domestic-violence
With Selina MacKenzie for Talk Radio Europe
https://www.talkradioeurope.com/clients/tsalvartnam010420.mp3
With Dr. Lisa Coleman, as part of NYU Womxn100
https://www.nyu.edu/about/university-initiatives/nyuwomxn100.html
With Jenna Flanagan for METROFOCUS on WNET:
I produced a documentary by Catherine Gund about her mother, the renowned art collector and philanthropist Agnes Gund, who sold a $165 million Lichtenstein painting to start the Art for Justice Fund to fight mass incarceration. AGGIE had its world premiere at Sundance 2020: https://www.sundance.org/projects/aggie. Then, it played at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, CA, and at MoMA as part of Doc Fortnight, and made the festival rounds. In October 2020, the film opened virtually at Film Forum in New York and dozens of cinemas around the country, and is available to stream.
Please visit https://aggiefilm.com/