Gessner, David

Distinguished Professor

positions

Distinguished Professor, Creative Writing , College of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts

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Contact Info

gessnerdm@uncw.edu

910.962.7489

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Publications
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Selected Publications

Academic Article
- Flaco the owl’s troubled freedom: A meditation on zoos, stories and empathy. Salon.com. 2025-02-01
- Following Flaco the Owl: In Praise of Writing Into Our Obsessions. Literary Hub (LitHub). 2025-02-01
- Three Hoots for Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle Owl Who Charmed New York City January 2025 | | AIR MAIL Verified. . 2025-01-01
- “Out of Place: A Hard Patience”. Ecotone. 34. 2024-07-01
- “Out of Place: The Dead Writers' Society”. Ecotone. 34. 2023-04-01
- Looking Back From the End of the World: Sheltering in Place with the Original Social Distancer. American Scholar. 2021-01-01
- The News. Harvard Review Online. 2021-01-01
- The Thoreau I Didn’t Know. Boston Globe Magazine. 2021-01-01
- A Dream of Rewilding. Sierra Magazine. 2020-01-01
- Are National Parks Really Our Best Idea?. Outside on-line. 2020-01-01
- Monumental: Why Public Lands Are Still Worth Fighting For. The Hill. 2020-01-01
- Taking Down Teddy. American Scholar. 2020-01-01
- The Move Biden Can Make To Reverse Centuries of Native American Exploitation. Washington Post. 2020-01-01
- Trump Venerates Teddy Roosevelt but Roosevelt Would Have Hated Trump. Washington Post. 2020-01-01
- Trump’ Rhetoric About the Election Channels a Dark Episode From our Past.. Washington Post. 2020-01-01
- Cocktails with Vultures.. The Georgia Review. 2016-01-01
- The Taming of the Wild.. American Scholar. 2016-01-01
- Ed Abbey’s FBI Files.. Orion. 2015-01-01
- The Birds of British Petroleum. Audubon. 2015-01-01
- The Professor and the Prankster. Tinhouse. 2015-01-01
- "Nature and Adaptation". OnEarth. 2011-10-01
- An excerpt from "My Green Manifesto". The Utne Reader. 2011-10-01
- "Free the Mississippi". . 2011-04-01
- "The Best Novel for Enflaming Youth". Oxford American. 2010-07-01
- "Loving the West to Death". Onearth Magazine. 2008-12-01
- "Those Who Teach, Write". New York Times Magazine. 2008-09-01
- “Life on the Edge: An Interview with Orrin Pilkey.”. Onearth Magazine. 2008-05-01
Article
- Flaco’s Environmental Legacy. Sierra magazine. 2025-02-01
- A Traveler’s Guide to the End of the World”. Orion magazine. 2023-09-01
- The Road to Paradise and Back, about hurricanes in the East and fires in the West:. The American Scholar. 2022-12-01
- A Traveler's Guide to the End of the World: a monthly column for Orion magazine. . 2022-11-01
- "Losing Everything." My introductory essay for Ecotone, “Safe Places,” was a notable essay in Best Am essays. https://ecotonemagazine.org/out-of-place/safe-places/. . 2022-09-01
- "Skeptics". Ecotone. 2019-01-01
- "Beyond Flipper". Toad Suck Review. 2015-01-01
- Return of the Prophet. Outside Magazine. 2015-01-01
- “Why Vernal, Utah Loves Oil.”. OnEarth Magazine. 2015-01-01
- "Spoiling Walden: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Cape Wind". OnEarth. 2011-12-01
- "Sick of Oil". OnEarth. 2011-04-01
- All My Walks. Ecotone. 9. 2011-04-01
- "A New Climate for Literature". Onearth. 2009-10-01
- “Safe Places" https://ecotonemagazine.org/out-of-place/safe-places/. Ecotone https://ecotonemagazine.org/out-of-place/safe-places/.
Book
- The Book of Flaco: The World's Most Famous Bird (Blair publisher) February 2025. Blair.. 2025-02-01
- A Traveler’s Guide to the End of the World: Tales of Fire, Wind, and Water.. Torrey House Press.. 2023-06-01
- Quiet Desperation, Savage Delight: Sheltering with Thoreau in the Age of Crisis. Torrey House Press. 2021-01-01
- Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American Wilderness. Simon & Schuster. 2020-01-01
- Ultimate Glory: Frisbee, Obsession and My wild Youth. Riverhead Books. 2017-01-01
- All the Wild That Remains: Following Wallace Stegner and Edward Abbey through the American West. W.W. Norton and Company. 2015-01-01
- "The Tarball Chronicles". Milkweed. 2011-09-01
- "My Green Manifesto". Milkweed Editions. 2011-07-01
Chapter
- "Learning to Surf," a chapter in book titled "Flights of Imagination: Extraordinary Writing About Birds". . 2010-03-01
Document
- “Flaco: A Triptych. Evolution.”. Terrain.org. 2024-04-01
- “Flaco: A Triptych. The Escape.”. Terrain.org. 2024-04-01
- A Traveler’s Guide to the End of the World”. Orion magazine. 2023-10-01
- The Broken Clock. Orion magazine. 2023-10-01
- “How roads are destroying, well, all living things.” Review of Ben Goldfarb’s new book ecology book, “Crossings.”. The Washington Post. 2023-10-01
- Living Downstream From Ourselves. Orion magazine. 2023-09-01
- A Field Guide to Everything. Orion magazine. 2023-08-01
- A Traveler’s Guide to the End of the World”. Orion magazine. 2023-08-01
- A Deep Thirst. Orion magazine. 2023-07-01
- A Traveler’s Guide to the End of the World”. Orion magazine. 2023-07-01
- The Angry Drunk. Orion magazine. 2023-06-01
- “Abandoned Homes: A Triptych.”. Terrain.org. 2023-06-01
- A Traveler’s Guide to the End of the World”. Orion magazine. 2023-05-01
- The Land of the Blue Roofs. Orion magazine. 2023-05-01
- “Birds are disappearing from our skies. What can we do to save them?” A review of ‘A Wing and a Prayer,’ by Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal. Washington Post. 2023-05-01
- A Traveler’s Guide to the End of the World”. Orion magazine. 2023-04-01
- “Room to Roam: Ground-truthing the Yellowstone to Yukon Trail.”. Sierra Magazine. 2023-04-01
- A Traveler’s Guide to the End of the World”. Orion magazine. 2023-03-01
- A Traveler’s Guide to the End of the World”. Orion magazine. 2023-02-01
- Brant's Requiem. Orion. 2013-01-01
- “Wild and Crazy Guy.”. the New York Times. 2009-04-01

Presentations

Presentation
- , ● Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, NC (03/09/25) 2025-03-01
- , ● Sarah Lawence College, Heimbold Visual Arts Center (02/26/25) 2025-02-01
- , ● NYU / Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at NYU (02/27/25) 2025-02-01
- , ● Barnes & Noble, Upper West Side (2289 Broadway, New York, NY 10024) in conversation with George Black (02/18/25) 2025-02-01
- Print Bookstore – Portland, Maine 2023-10-17
- Brattleboro Book Festival 2023-10-14
- Cape Cod Museum of Natural History 2023-08-17
- David Gessner & Nina de Gramont in Person at Brookline Booksmith 2023-08-16
- Author Talks with David Gessner And Nina de Gramont 2023-08-10
- Discussion with David Gessner at Powell’s City of Books 2023-06-29
- Book Signing & Discussion at Kings English 2023-06-27
- David Gessner in conversation about his new book, A Traveler’s Guide to the End of the World: Tales of Fire, Wind, and Water 2023-06-26
- Author Talk and Book Signing 2023-06-24
- Launch of A Traveler’s Guide to the End of the World and a tribute to Mark Spitzer 2023-06-20
- Reading at Fenceline Cider 2023-06-15
- Theodore Roosevelt: Writer and Conservationist, Houghton Library, Harvard College 2020-11-01
- , Concord Festival of Authors 2020-10-01
- , Tucson Festival of Books 2016-03-01
- , Banff Film and Book Festival 2015-11-01
- , Montana State University 2015-10-01
- , Butler College 2015-04-01
- Desperate and Deliberate: Thoreau and the Nature Writer, Association of Writers and Writing Programs 2012-03-03
- , Edwin Way Teale Lecturer 2012-03-01
- , Penn State 2012-02-20
- , University of South Carolina Fall Literary Festival 2011-11-16
- , Half King Literary Reading Series 2011-11-14
- , Concord Festival of Authors 2011-10-23
- , Book Lovers’ Ball 2011-10-15
- , Jimmy Carter Public Library 2011-10-12
- , Eastern Carolina University 2011-09-24
- , Alabama Coastal Foundation 2011-09-22
- , University of North Carolina Wilmington 2011-09-15
- , WHQR & Star News Prologue Reading Series 2011-09-12
- , Harvard University 2011-07-21
- , The Thoreau Institute 2011-07-19
- , Newton Free Library 2011-07-14
- , Cape Cod Museum of Natural History 2011-07-06
- , Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary 2011-06-30
- , WCU’s Ninth Annual Spring Literary Festival 2011-04-07
- "Bone Deep in Landscape", Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) 2010-04-09
- "The New Nature Writing", Orion Nature Writers Conference 2009-11-01
- "Book of Dads" reading, "Book of Dads" reading 2009-10-01
- "Book of Dads" reading, "Book of Dads" reading 2009-05-01
- Reading at Yeager Recital Hall 2009-03-04
- Reading, Holy Cross University 2009-02-16
- "Award-Winning Nature Writers", Association of Writers and Writing Programs 2009-02-14
- Featured speaker at Fifth Environmental Writers’ Conference in honor of Rachel Carson, Fifth Environmental Writers’ Conference 2008-06-10
- Featured Speaker, Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference 2008-06-06
- Keynote Address, 8th Annual Juniper Literary Festival, The World and the Word: 2008-04-25