Daniel Kason '11
MAJOR: English
CURRENT POSITION: Teaching and pursuing a Ph.D. in American Literature at the University of Maryland in College Park
Even before he graduated in 2011, Daniel Kason ’11 was on his way as an author when Indigo Rising, a literary magazine, published his short story, “Dark Creation.”
His trajectory has continued with the publication of his first novel, The Leech World (Hunt Press), which grew out of his senior honors thesis in English. He was on campus during ReUnion to give a talk and read from the science fiction book.
Leech World’s central character, Noah Ordith, finds himself in a parallel universe with six stranded strangers ranging from an archaeologist searching for his missing father to a 7-year-old girl with dark and uncontrollable powers. As the group searches for a way home they will have to stand between two gods who have set Leech World and Earth on course for an apocalyptic final battle.
A native of Long Island, Kason graduated from Union with a major in English and a minor in economics. He is teaching and pursuing a Ph.D. in American literature at the University of Maryland in College Park. His short fiction appears in readshortfiction.com, Electric Spec, Anotherealm and JewishFiction.net among others.
While a student at Union, Kason won the Daniel Shocket Memorial Award for creative writing and the David Brind Memorial Prize for outstanding work in English.
Other speakers in this year’s Alumni Writer Series sponsored by the English Department were:
Erin Schumaker ’09, a journalist who is health blogs editor for The Huffington Post. She entered the field through a stint at a luxury travel magazine, and worked with recently deported migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border. Journalism, she says, is fast-paced, fresh and anything but dead. Her writing has appeared in The Nation, Departures and Motherboard. A double major in English and Spanish at Union, she went on to earn a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Chelsea Woodard ’04, poet, earned a B.A. in English and Visual Arts from Union College. Her first collection, Vellum, was published in 2014 by Able Muse Press, and her poems have appeared in The Threepenny Review, Southwest Review, Best New Poets, Blackbird and other journals. She earned her M.F.A. from the Johns Hopkins University and her Ph.D. from the University of North Texas. She lives and teaches in New Hampshire.