Creative Writing

David Gessner to Celebrate Launch of New Book

The UNCW Department of Creative Writing invites the community to join chair and professor David Gessner for the launch of his new book, Ultimate Glory: Frisbee, Obsession and My Wild Youth. The event will take place at 7 p.m. on the book’s publication day, Tuesday, June 6, at Wrightsville Beach Brewery. A memoir decades in the making, Ultimate Glory explores Gessner’s single-minded devotion to the sport of Ultimate Frisbee in his twenties, including his dogged pursuit of a national championship. It is also “the portrait of an artist as a young ruffian”: a true-life chronicle of the larger-than-life characters, intense rivalries, and epic parties that defined the burgeoning game in the 1980s.

In his own words, Gessner “will tell stories, answer questions, mock hecklers, boast of past glory, and read a little.” The event is co-hosted by Pomegranate Books.

To learn more about the book author Patrick Phillips describes as “an unabashed love song to the glory of being alive,” listen to Gessner’s interview on WHQR’s CoastLine. Gessner’s article on ultimate Frisbee, “No DiscRespect,” is featured in June’s Outside magazine, on newsstands now.