DANIELLE VALENILLA

RECENT & UPCOMING

Text reads: Livina Press Womanhood Contributors March 2025

“Second Mom” just published by Livina Press!

“What I Am and Am Not Saying About Embodiment” just published by Unapologetically Us!

#poetrycanchangetheworld

#poetrycanchangetheworld

Text reads: Coming Soon - Poetry Accepted by Vial of Bones
A woman leans her head against her hand. She has silver hair and brown eyes.
A woman with colorful eyeshadow and sparkly earrings rests her head on her hand. She has dark hair and a prominent nose.

About Danielle ∞

Danielle Valenilla is a Kentucky poet and lifewriting enthusiast whose work delves into the themes of healing and identity excavation.

Writing Credits & HOnors

  • 2013

    • Featured Reader: “That Girl”

      Love, Lust, & Poetry at the Nickel Plate Arts Center

      Event date: Feb. 14, 2013

    • Featured Reader: “When Strangers Make it Rain” from The Polk Street Review 2013

      Release Party at the Logan Street Sanctuary

      Event date: Nov. 9, 2013

    2014

    • Contest Judge: Poetry Category

      2014 Indiana State Federation of Poetry Clubs’ 36th Annual Fall Rendezvous Contest

    • Manuscripts., Vol. 76, Iss. 1, Article 23

      Butler University

      Copyright © 2009 by Danielle E. R. Garland

      Writing contributions: “Lessons in Fellatio” pp. 33

      Edited and Produced by: Kelly Fritz and Christina Lear

    • Fun Dip & Other Misfortunes

      Danielle Valenilla, KDP Publishing

      20 December 2014

      Copyright © 2014 by Danielle Valenilla

      Cover Art, Photographs, and Design by: Cuong Tran

      Illustrated by: Megan Tran

    • Teaching as a Human Experience: An Anthology of Contemporary Poems

      Cambridge Scholars Publishing

      1 January 2015

      Copyright © 2015 by Danielle Valenilla

      Writing contributions: "I RISE" pp. 149-15

      Edited and Produced by: Karen J. Head and Patrick Blessinger

    • Poems To F*ck To: A collection of sexy, seductive, scintillating poetry

      Poetry In Motion Publishing House

      28 February 2015

      Copyright © 2015 by Danielle Valenilla

      Poetry contributions: "Lessons in Fellatio" · "Machine #6" · "Orgasm" pp. 24-26

      Compilated by: Jason Brain (Author) and C.R. Cohen (Contributor)

    • Southern Fried Poetry #Haikuesdays

      Instagram @sofriedpoetry

      6 September 2021

      Danielle Valenilla @daniellevalenilla

      Poetry contributions: “Furniture Person”

    • Livina Press: Womanhood

      Livina Press

      8 March 2025

      Copyright © 2025 by Masthead

      Poetry contributions: "Second Mom” pp. 3-5

      Edited and Produced by: Laci F. Hector (Founder and Editor-in-Chief)

    • Unapologetically Us: Disabled, Proud, And Resilient

      A Zine By the Disability Community For the Disability Community, Issue #2

      14 June 2025

      Copyright © 2025

      Poetry contributions: "What I Am and Am Not Saying About Embodiment” pp. 30-31

      Produced by: Cat Contillo, Larissa Minner, and Nathan Chung

    • HERALD NewsHawk

      Copyright © 2006 by Danielle Garland

      Writing contributions: “The Imperative Part-Time Job” p. 9

      13 December 2006

      Print only.

    • Each Fork Counts

      HWP National Writing Project

      Copyright © 2012 by Danielle Valenilla

      Writing contributions: “It’s Complicated” · “Haiku Set: The Process” · “Dear Everyone” pp. 56-61

      Edited and Produced by: Joe Akers and Steve Fox

      Print only.

    • The Polk Street Review, Vol. 3

      Noblesville Cultural Arts Commission

      1 January 2013

      Copyright © 2013 by Danielle Valenilla

      Writing contributions: "When Strangers Make It Rain" pp. 110-115

      Edited and Produced by: Bill Kenley and Kurt Meyer

      Art Direction and Design by: Andrea Haydon

    • The Polk Street Review, Vol. 4

      Noblesville Cultural Arts Commission

      1 January 2014

      Copyright © 2014 by Danielle Valenilla

      Writing contributions: "Clear All History" pp. 37-38

      Edited and Produced by: Bill Kenley and Kurt Meyer

      Book Design and Layout by: Andrea Boucher

      Cover Artist: Gabriel Lehman

      Additional Editing: Celeste Williams

    • Straight Enough: A Memoir

      Audible

      12 February 2024

      Copyright ©2021 Lorinda Boyer (P)2024 Lorinda Boyer

      Hard copy originally published by: Sidekick Press

      Written by: Lorinda Boyer

      Narrated by: Danielle Noonan

    *When I provide voiceover work, I publish my credits under Danielle Noonan.

What People Are Saying

“Valenilla’s prose is authentic and tough—even dark. That’s what makes her sensitivity and humor all the more surprising and poignant. She dares to explore the lonely, heartbreaking places in the heart via her writing. She knows there’s treasure there.”

— Bill Kenley, Author of High School Runner: Freshman

A Latina woman with dark curly hair faces the camera. The perspective includes a large-scale skeleton hand and her hands are folded toward them and the audience.

“Danielle Valenilla is a skillful writer whose work is rich with compassion, intensity, insight, and daring detail.”

— Nan Brooks, Editor

“It’s often said that writers write to express emotions that are not allowed in daily conversation. Danielle Valenilla’s writing is honest, raw, and emotional and plows the landscape of those taboo topics.”

— Kurt Meyer, Author of Stardust and The Salvage Man

Select Works

  • Book cover is a blue and crinkled texture

    "I Rise" | POETRY

    Teaching as a Human Experience: An Anthology of Contemporary Poems

    Cambridge Scholars Publishing

    Find It
  • Book cover shows a portrait illustration of a girl with vibrant pink flowy hair and bangs. She has an asterism shoulder tattoo and is wearing a celtic knot necklace.

    Fun Dip & Other Misfortunes

    Poetry chapbook, 1st Edition

    Independently Published - This debut collection is no longer in print.

    Review It
  • Book cover shows a woman in a flowy gown holding a bow and arrow, shooting it through the clouds with a celestial, deep purple gradient background

    "Second Mom" | Poetry

    Special Issue: Womanhood

    Livina Press

    Find It
  • Book cover shows a woman leaning back on a couch reading an open-faced book while sipping a martini. The colors are rosy and blush for a romantic mood.

    “Machine #6” · “Orgasm” · “Impotence” | Poetry

    Poems To F*ck To: A collection of sexy, seductive, scintillating poetry

    Poetry in Motion (PIM) Publishing House

    Find It
  • Book cover shows a red double decker bus in color passing through a city street in black-and-white

    "Lessons in Fellatio" | Poetry

    Manuscripts., Vol. 76, Iss. 1, Article 23

    Butler University - This is my first publishing credit under “Danielle Garland” and is available for public access in the Digital Commons archive.

    Read It
  • Book cover is dark green with golden print and features a hopping grasshopper

    “When Strangers Make it Rain” | Memoir

    The Polk Street Review, Vol. 3

    Noblesville Arts Commission

    Review It
  • Book cover shows an illustration of a young girl looking into an open chest. She is sitting on a vine and the background shows yellow and pink clouds, as though at sunset.

    “Clear All History” | Poetry

    The Polk Street Review, Vol. 4

    Noblesville Arts Commission

    Review It
  • Zine cover features the title Unapologetically Us: Disabled, Proud, And Resilient, Issue #2, A Zine By the Disability Community For the Disability Community. An illustrative person sits in a wheelchair with a progress pride flag waving.

    "What I Am and Am Not Saying About Embodiment" | Poetry

    Unapologetically Us: Disabled, Proud, And Resilient, Issue #2

    A Zine By the Disability Community For the Disability Community

    Read It

“Here’s to the catalysts,

to those who keep the embers of our souls warm

when they almost fall to ash,

or rather,

set the forest aflame

with their unforgettable flint.”