Carol Berge collection of Zebras manuscripts

Carol Berge (1928-2006) was an American poet, active in the literary, performing, and visual arts renaissance of the 1960s and 1970s in New York City. A native of New York City, Berge was an organizer of the Lower East Side (East Villiage) bohemian arts scene in Manhattan. She studied at New York University, The New School, and others for a decade, opting out of a degree program. She was married and divorced twice, and had one son. She taught at Goddard College, the University of Southern Mississippi, the University of New Mexico, and Wright State University. Scandal broke out in 1984 when she published "Secrets, Gossip and Slander," a self-described "Derrida" style of prose that blends fact and fiction with a political and social or philosophical thrust. The scandal cost her her teaching jobs, and ended her literary career, as she lost support from the publishing industry. Berge is the author of 23 books of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Following the demise of her literary career, she took up antiquing as a profession.