Hobart and William Smith Colleges

2 September 2025 • Alums Schonning ’16 Debuts First Poetry Collection By Annabel Ramsay '25

A poetry collection by Professor of Practice and Director of HWS Debate Daniel Schonning ’16 will be published this October.

As When Waking by Professor of Practice and Director of HWS Debate Daniel Schonning ’16 will be published this October by the University of Chicago Press, as part of their Phoenix Poets series.

“It's an extraordinary honor to be selected as a Phoenix Poet,” Schonning says. “The series editor is the brilliant poet and scholar Srikanth Reddy, who also serves as the poetry editor of The Paris Review. Having admired his work for years, to have my poems pass across his desk is itself a gift.”

Twenty-six of the poems within As When Waking are abecedarians, a form of poetry where the opening letter of each line advances through the alphabet, with the lines of the first poem proceeding alphabetically from A–Z, while those of the second poem move from B–A, and then C–B, all the way to Z–A.

Schonning’s As When Waking began as part of his MFA thesis at Colorado State University. He says the first few abecedarians took shape in a course titled “Poetry and Pottery,” which explored the qualities shared between words and clay.

The University of Chicago Press describes Schonning’s book as “an apprentice to the medium of letters,” one that weaves together examinations of childhood suffering, estrangement and poetic lineage. Throughout, Schonning weaves together personal moments of loss and intricate observations of nature, such as mallards on a frozen pond or bindweed in bloom.

In early praise for the book, author Camille Dungy says, “Schonning offers page after page of wicked smart turns of phrase. What a book! What a poet!” Author and contributing editor to the Phoenix Poets Douglas Kearney says, “There are amazements, wonders, and magics in this collection.”

A 2016 graduate of HWS, Schonning credits his time as a student as foundational to his writing. “It’s one of the great gifts of my life to have studied under Professors Kathryn Cowles and Geoffrey Babbitt. Every piece I've written since is owed to their patience and passion in introducing me to the craft,” he says.

Schonning also acknowledges the impact of the Trias Residency and Reading Series, where he learned from writers including Chris Abani and Mary Ruefle, and his recent work as a Fisher Center fellow, during which he finalized As When Waking.