Biography
Tanya Selvaratnam is an artist, a writer, and an Emmy-nominated and Webby-winning producer. She is the author of Assume Nothing: A Story of Intimate Violence (Harper, 2021), in development by ABC Signature/Disney Television, with Joanna Coles executive producing. She is also the author of The Big Lie: Motherhood, Feminism, and the Reality of the Biological Clock; and her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Glamour, Vogue, CNN, and McSweeney's. Her films have played on HBO, IFC, PBS, STARZ, and the Sundance Channel; at festivals such as Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, and Berlin; and theatrically around the world including four features at the prestigious Film Forum in New York. She has produced for Planned Parenthood, Glamour Women of the Year, Joy To The Polls, For Freedoms, The Shed, Aubin Pictures, The Vision & Justice Project, Carrie Mae Weems, and Mickalene Thomas. She has also worked with the Ms. Foundation, NGO Forum on Women, Third Wave Fund, and World Health Organization. With Laurie Anderson and Laura Michalchyshyn, she is a co-founder of The Federation, a coalition of artists, organizations, and allies committed to keeping cultural borders open and showing how art unites us. She received her B.A. and M.A. in Chinese language and history from Harvard University. Selvaratnam was born in Sri Lanka and lives in New York City and Portland, Oregon. www.tanyaturnsup.com
