Author

Mallary Tenore Tarpley

@MallaryTenore

Mallary Tenore Tarpley is a journalism and writing professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s Moody College of Communication and McCombs School of Business. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and The Dallas Morning News, among other publications. Her debut narrative nonfiction book, “SLIP,” will be published by Simon & Schuster in August 2025. Mallary offers writing tips and best practices in her weekly newsletter, Write at the Edge.

When digital outreach fails, try pen and paper 

When digital outreach fails, try pen and paper 

Journalists can find value in the old-school approach of handwritten letters to gain interviews and thank sources
December 19, 2024
A journalist, a boy, and a surprising literary gift 

A journalist, a boy, and a surprising literary gift 

What a New York Times editor’s father-son trip can teach us about personal essay writing
December 13, 2024
Think your book is done? Think again

Think your book is done? Think again

After four years reporting, writing and rewriting, a first-time book author sends in her manuscript — then braces for another year-plus of work
August 22, 2024
Reporting the long arc of trauma recovery

Reporting the long arc of trauma recovery

A Seattle Times intern resisted easy news angles to learn the truth of recovery for five women mountain bikers who survived a cougar attack
August 14, 2024
The Post-it puzzle of a big writing project

The Post-it puzzle of a big writing project

Author and journalism teacher Mallary Tenore Tarpley uses Post-its and origami paper to outline her reported memoir on eating disorders
November 9, 2023
Challenging the stereotype of Uvalde's plucky child survivor

Challenging the stereotype of Uvalde’s plucky child survivor

John Woodrow Cox invests time, attention and empathy to profile a girl who became the public voice of the town's messy recovery from trauma
January 27, 2023
So you want to write a book? The risks and rewards of memoir

So you want to write a book? The risks and rewards of memoir

A learning-teaching journalist shares lessons learned as she revisited the realities of her mother's death and her own eating disorder
July 6, 2022