Carolivia Herron (born Carol Olivia Herron; July 22, 1947) is an American writer of children's and adult literature, and a scholar of African-American Judaica.

Personal life

She was born to Oscar Smith Herron and Georgia Carol (Johnson) Herron, in Washington, D.C.

Herron converted to Judaism in adulthood, and she has paternal-line Jewish descent from her grandmother via Jewish Geechees.

Herron edited the papers of Angelina Weld Grimke for Oxford University Press.

Many of her writings, including her multimedia novel in progress, "Asenath and Our Song of Songs", refer to the intersections between Judaic and African cultures. Textual portions of "Asenath and Our Song of Songs" were published as separate novels in 2014, "Asenath and the Origin of Nappy Hair," and 2016, "PeacesongDC."

Her children's book Always an Olivia recounts the coming of Herron's Jewish ancestors from Tripoli, Libya, to the Georgia Sea Islands in the Americas.

Teaching

Herron has taught literature at many institutions, including Harvard University, Mount Holyoke College, Brandeis University, California State University, Chico, William and Mary, and Marien N'Guabi University in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. In 2017 Herron joined the Classics Department at Howard University, and currently teaches undergraduate courses in Humanities (mostly epics) and Blacks in Antiquity.

She also teaches children directly working directly in Grecian epics with her vast understanding of ancient Greece mythology. She also has the ability to translate the ancient language.

Scholarship

Her scholarship includes work on African-American Judaica. Her scholarship also includes work on children's literature, multicultural literature, and Star Trek. Herron is currently developing Epicenter Stories to assist in her work with children, literacy, and multiculturalism.

Bibliography

Adult

  • Thereafter Johnnie, 1991
  • Asenath and the Origin of Nappy Hair, 2015

Children's

  • Nappy Hair, 1997
  • Always an Olivia, 2007

Non-fiction

  • Selected works of Angelina Weld Grimké, 1991
  • “Nappier Hair: In Brenda’s Own Voice or Setting the Record Straight.” The Lion and the Unicorn, Volume 37, Number 2 (April 2013): 188-194.
  • “Early African American Poetry.” The Columbia History of American Poetry., edited by Jay Parini and Brett Millier, 16-32. New York: Columbia University Press; 1993. xxxi, 894.
  • “Philology as Subversion: The Case of Afro-America.” Comparative Literature Studies, vol. 27, no. 1 (1990): 62–65.

References

  • Carolivia Herron. Notable Black American Women, Book 3. Gale Group, 2002.