Dena Higley (born September 26, 1958) is an American writer, speaker and author.

Early life and career

Higley grew up in

East County, San Diego East County is a region of San Diego County, California, east of San Diego. Geography East County does not have an official geographic definition, although East County boundaries are unofficially drawn by the County of San Diego for its second d ...

and was the first of three children. She moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

as a teenager eventually graduating from the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

with a BFA in Theatre. Dena was previously the head writer of the daytime

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

s '' Days of Our Lives'' and '' One Life to Live''. In February 2015, ''

Soap Opera Digest ''Soap Opera Digest'' is a weekly magazine covering American daytime soap operas. It features onscreen and offscreen news about the series, interviews with and articles about performers, storyline summaries and analysis, and related promotional in ...

'' confirmed Higley's imminent return to ''Days of Our Lives'', this time alongside

Josh Griffith Joe Shelby "Josh" Griffith (born August 15, 19??) is an American soap opera writer and producer. Personal life Born on August 15, in the U.S. state of New York, Josh is the son of Joe (Rip) Griffith and Sue Estes Griffith, both teachers and artist ...

. The pair begin writing for the series on February 16, 2015, with their material airing on August 19, 2015. Higley was fired again in January 2017; she was replaced by

Ron Carlivati Ronald David Carlivati (born November 25, 1968) is an American screenwriter. He is best known for his tenures as head writer on the ABC Daytime soap operas ''One Life to Live'' and ''General Hospital''. He is currently serving a position as head w ...

Positions held

'' Days of Our Lives'' * Head Writer: March 7, 2003 - August 8, 2003; April 23, 2008 – August 25, 2011 *Co-Head Writer: August 11, 2003 - August 18, 2003; August 19, 2015 - July 18, 2017) *Script writer: September 2003 - November 26, 2004 *Associate Head Writer: 1985 - March 6, 2003; August 19, 2003 - October 2003 '' One Life to Live'' *Head Writer: December 13, 2004 - September 10, 2007

Personal life

Dena has been married for 25 years to Mark and is a mother of four children, including an autistic son Connor, a daughter Jensen, an adopted daughter with physical disability, from

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Adelle, and an adopted son Helio, from

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. Her current non-fiction book ''Momaholic: Crazy Confessions of a Helicopter Parent'' was released April 14, 2012.

Awards and nominations

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

*Nominations: 1987, 1994, 1997–1999, and 2006, Best Writing, ''Days of our Lives'' *Wins: 2008, Best Writing, ''One Life to Live'' Writers Guild of America Award *Nominations: 1987, 1991, 1993, 2001, and 2005, ''Days of our Lives'' *Wins: 1999, ''Days of our Lives''

HW History

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References

External links

* University of Southern California alumni 1958 births Living people American soap opera writers American women television writers Place of birth missing (living people) Women soap opera writers 21st-century American women {{US-tv-bio-stub