Tristan Taormino papers

A sex educator and feminist pornographer, Tristan has authored and edited numerous books and anthologies, which have sold over 500,000 copies and been translated into multiple languages. Early in her career, she worked as the Executive Assistant to Jay Hill, the Executive Director of the Gay Games (1994). Her first prominent job in erotic and feminist publishing came when she served first as columnist, then as editor of the feminist sex magazine On Our Backs (1998-2002). For nine and a half years (1999-2008), she wrote a bi-weekly column in The Village Voice, which appeared alongside Dan Savage's column "Savage Love" and won two Sex-Positive Journalism Awards. She wrote an advice column for Hustler's Taboo Magazine from 1999-2014. Her articles have appeared in Penthouse, Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, and numerous other publications. She runs her own adult film production company, Smart Ass Productions, started in 2005, and she was an exclusive director for Vivid Entertainment from 2006-2012, where she created and helmed the Vivid-Ed sex education line. She has directed and produced 25 adult films which have won numerous awards, including her multi-award winning debut film based on her book, The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women (1998). She has appeared on dozens of television shows alongside Ricki Lake, Melissa Harris-Perry, Howard Stern, and others; she worked as a script consultant for Spike Lee and appeared in John Cameron Mitchell's film Shortbus. She has lectured and taught workshops extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Spain, and Australia at colleges, universities, conferences, and community events. She has been producer and host of the radio show and podcast Sex Out Loud since 2012.