Tanya Ward Goodman

Tanya Ward Goodman grew up in the mountains of New Mexico and currently lives in Los Angeles, California. Following stints in television writing and advertising, her distaste for desks and schedules, along with her constant curiosity, propelled her into a freelance career, where her essays, articles, and interviews cover travel, art, caregiving, parenting, literature, and culture.

Tanya’s writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Luxe Magazine, Another Chicago Magazine, Variable West, and many others.

 As a founding partner of Girl Group Enterprises, Tanya co-created a social-emotional curriculum and facilitated workshops for children, teens, their parents, and teachers.

Experience

Tanya's award-winning memoir, "Leaving Tinkertown" (University of New Mexico Press,) chronicles her experiences caring for her artist father after his diagnosis with younger-onset Alzheimer's. Her essay, "What Life Does," initially published in Fourth River, was listed as notable in the 2019 Best American Science and Nature Writing. She is currently at work on a second memoir about motherhood, and the way travel cultivates a willing acceptance of uncertainty.

 Skills such as flexibility, a sense of humor, and the willingness to eat almost anything, were honed on childhood road trips throughout the United States and have served well on more recent journeys to Peru, Myanmar, Jordan, Morocco, Costa Rica, Nova Scotia, and Antarctica. Tanya has written about the value of small museums, interviewed numerous artists, and always looks for unique art environments and roadside attractions.

 As an avid volunteer, Tanya has served on the boards of the Silverlake Independent Jewish Community Center, Pilgrim School Parent Advisory, and Preserve Bottle Village, a non-profit dedicated to the preservation and protection of the Simi Valley art environment created by Tressa "Grandma" Prisbrey. She works yearly with College Path LA to assist rising seniors with their college essays and regularly lends a hand with local clean-up groups, unhoused outreach, food pantries, and other education efforts.  

Education

Tanya attended Northwestern University, where she was accepted for simultaneous enrollment in the Radio-Television-Film and English Department writing programs. She graduated with a B.S. in Performance Studies and a dual certificate in creative writing.

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