Nature writer David Gessner, the author of six books, will speak at Coastal Carolina University on Thursday, Sept. 6 at 4:30 p.m. as part of the Words to Say It Visiting Writer Series. The event, which will be in the Edwards Recital Hall, is free and open to the public.

Gessner's books include "The Prophet of Dry Hill" and "Return of the Osprey," which was chosen by the Boston Globe as one of the top 10 nonfiction books of the year and by the Book-of-the-Month club as one of its top books of the year. The Globe called it a "classic of American nature writing." In his most recent book, "Soaring with Fidel," Gessner follows the 7,000-mile osprey migration from Cape Cod to Cuba and Venezuela and back.

In 2006 Gessner won a Pushcart Prize. He has taught environmental writing at Harvard and is currently an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He is the editor of the national literary journal Ecotone.

Gessner will sign books at a reception following the reading, and copies of his books will be available for purchase. For more information, call Dan Albergotti at 349-2420.