Among Tannenbaum’s books are the memoir, My Years Teaching Poetry at San Quentin (Northeastern University Press, 2000) -- a finalist in PEN American Center USA West’s Literary Award Winners in 2001; two books for teachers — Teeth, Wiggly as Earthquakes: Writing Poetry in the Primary Grades (Stenhouse Publishers, 2000) and (with Valerie Chow Bush) Jump Write In! Creative Writing Exercises for Diverse Communities, Grades 6-12 (Jossey-Bass, 2005); and six poetry collections. Her By Heart: Poetry, Prison, and Two Lives ... co-written with Spoon Jackson, her student at San Quentin in the 1980s ... will be published by New Village Press in April, 2010.citation needed

In California, Tannenbaum created Arts-in-Corrections’ newsletter, wrote their book-length Manual for Artists Working in Prison, and developed the Handbook for Arts in the Youth Authority Program at the California Division of Juvenile Justice. She has also completed a feasibility study for arts programming in Minnesota state prisons; chaired panels and served as keynote speaker at conferences on prison, prison arts, and teaching arts; and taught in prisons in eight states.citation needed

Tannenbaum currently serves as training coordinator for WritersCorps in San Francisco.