Charlotte Taylor Fryar is a writer, historian, herbalist, and naturalist.

She is the author of the essay collection, Potomac Fever: Reflections on the Nation's River, a finalist for the 2026 Reed Environmental Writing Award. Her essays, which have been twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize and recognized as notable in The Best American Essays, can be found in Orion, Fourth Genre, Literary Hub, and the Southern Humanities Review, among other publications. She has been supported by the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Bread Loaf Environmental Writers’ Conference, and D.C.’s the Inner Loop, where she was a 2025 featured author.

Charlotte holds a Ph.D., M.A., and B.A. in American Studies, all from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her dissertation there won multiple awards for innovations in public and digital scholarship. She is currently the Writer-In-Residence at a boarding school in Virginia, and operates a small herbal practice for folks local to her slip of the Potomac River.

Charlotte currently lives and gardens in Glen Echo, Maryland, less than 700 feet from the banks of the Potomac. She is available for freelance writing assignments and speaking events if you’d like to be in touch.