Joy Netanya Thompson

Joy Netanya Thompson is a freelance writer who covers motherhood, culture, and identity. With an educational background in religion — she has a BA in Biblical Studies and a master’s degree in theology — Joy is also interested in the spiritual and meaning-making angles of both motherhood and pop culture.

Her work has appeared in Parents, Kveller, What’s Up Moms, Gloria, Coffee + Crumbs, Motherwell, Sojourners, and RELEVANT. She is the author of the newsletter Midweek Joy, a monthly-ish offering containing a short essay on modern life, as well as a curated set of links to the best articles, TV shows, books, and more. One reader said Midweek Joy made them “feel validated in my feelings around motherhood, and just generally being an adult in your 30s.”

Joy has worked as an editor for more than 15 years, focusing mostly on nonfiction, higher education, and academia. She has held editor positions at Outreach magazine, Azusa Pacific University, and Fuller Seminary. Currently she is working as a freelance editor and available to take on new projects. She is also a fiction writer, and has completed a middle grade novel based on her grandmother's experience surviving the Holocaust with her best friend. Joy is now working on a new middle grade novel.

Joy lives on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County with her husband, Robert, their daughter, Zadie, and their emotionally high-maintenance dog, Asher Lev. You can follow her on Instagram and learn more about her and her work at www.joynetanyathompson.com. You also can connect with her on LinkedIn here.