TONYA SIMPSON

Tonya is an Emmy- and Edward R. Murrow-Award winning writer and storyteller for ESPN. She has additional bylines in The New York Times, The Assembly, Narratively, Charlotte Magazine, and others. Her focus is mostly in reported essays - telling the human story behind headlines in the news - but she loves storytelling in all forms.

 

Her print bylines include the story of a soccer ball recovered from the Challenger disaster which was named one of 2018's best longform stories of the year. Her television work includes co-producing the 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.

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Tonya lives in Raleigh, NC with her husband, Aaron, where she enjoys exploring ways to create a better South, experimenting in the kitchen, and making her way through an ever-growing reading list.