Gessner Named Kenan Distinguished Professor

Creative writing professor and lauded environmental writer David Gessner has been awarded the Thomas S. Kenan III Distinguished Professorship in Creative Writing, setting up for a new chapter in his student mentorship and literary impact.

The author of thirteen books — including the New York Times bestseller All the Wild That Remains — and a founder of the Ecotone literary journal, Gessner has been praised as a tone-setter in the world of nature writing for his thoughtful and lively approach.

Gessner’s predecessor, Clyde Edgerton, retired over the summer following a 25-year legacy at UNCW rich with honored literary work, community activism and creative passion for teaching. Edgerton held the title from its inception in 2013 until his retirement, and Gessner is set to hold it for a five-year term.

“Our department is excited that Prof. Gessner has accepted the post,” said Mark Cox, chair of the Creative Writing Department. “He is an inspiring writer and has already brought fresh vision and energy to his teaching and service commitments.”

Though much of Gessner’s writing centers on aspects of the environment, it’s as much about the environment around that environment: the people he comes across on his writing journey and the culture he observes.

As he puts it, “70% of my job is just talking to strangers and combining that with research.”

That process is evident in his latest work, The Book of Flaco: The World’s Most Famous Bird, which received a cover reveal shout-out from People magazine over the summer and is set to publish in February. Gessner was captivated by Flaco, a Eurasian eagle-owl originally hatched in North Carolina who lived most of his life in the Central Park Zoo before escaping in February 2023, garnering close attention from the media and the public.

The book was chronicle of Gessner “getting obsessed with people who are obsessed with the subject … which is actually what I always do.” Tracking the owl’s turbulent flight through the streets of New York City, he found a devoted community in Flaco’s followers — even meeting over Zoom with some from overseas.

“To my surprise, despite that, they were completely emotionally absorbed,” he said. “And I really came to believe that the people I talked to felt this deep connection despite the kind of house of mirrors, post-modern weirdness of the whole story, where you have hundreds of people following and posting and taking photos.”

Gessner has set his students on the same sort of journey, actually assigning them to follow an animal and talk to experts about it before his book even took shape.

“I tell them there’s a tendency within nonfiction and grad writing to write memoir, which I understand,” he said, acknowledging his own memoir work, “but I try to push them toward passionately following more external subjects.

“You can still write about yourself, but also write about the world.”

He emphasizes a sense of place and adventure in his classes, regularly taking students to undeveloped beaches and marshes at Masonboro Island and Bald Head Island. And he enjoys the creativity and passion he encounters from both undergraduate and graduate writers.

Gessner has been preparing the launch of an environmental writing emphasis under the Creative Writing MFA program for next fall. Between links with the award-winning Ecotone, Wilmington’s ecological identity and the opportunities for academic cross-pollination with marine science scholars, Gessner said UNCW is uniquely positioned for writers to lead on topics of coastal resiliency, climate change and sustainability.