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 and was the first of three children. She moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

as a teenager eventually graduating from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

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

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

s ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that aired on the network NBC from November 8, 1965, to September 9, 2022; the soap has streamed n ...

'' and ''

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as ...

''. In February 2015, ''

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

'' 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 New York, Josh is the son of Joe (Rip) Griffith and Sue Estes Griffith, both teachers and artists. Career Griffi ...

. 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. Higley, formerly a member of

Writers Guild of America West The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including the Screen Writers Guild. It has around 20,000 me ...

, left and maintained financial core status during the

2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike From November 5, 2007, to February 12, 2008, all 12,000 film and television screenwriters of the American labor union Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), and West (WGAW) went on strike. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike primarily so ...

Positions held

'' *

Head Writer A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio ...

: 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 ''

'' *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, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

Adelle, and an adopted son Helio, from

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. 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 (NA ...

*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 The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...

*Nominations: 1987, 1991, 1993, 2001, and 2005, ''Days of our Lives'' *Wins: 1999, ''Days of our Lives''

HW History

, - , - , -

References

External links

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