TONYA SIMPSON

Tonya is an Emmy- and Edward R. Murrow-Award winning writer and storyteller who most recently spent ten years with ESPN. She has additional bylines in The New York Times, The Assembly, Narratively, Charlotte Magazine, and others. She is now working on her first young adult novel.

 

Her print bylines include the story of a soccer ball recovered from the wreckage of the Challenger disaster, which was named one of 2018's best longform stories of the year. She also co-produced a 2017 Emmy-winning investigation into the Syrian national soccer team and the 2016 report on the safety of artificial turf, which sparked a federal investigation into the issue. 

 

She is loath to write about herself in the third person.

​

Tonya lives in Hillsborough, NC with her husband, Aaron, where she enjoys leveling up her home cooking, trying to grow at least one decent tomato, exploring ways to create a better South, and making her way through an ever-growing reading list.