Author
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Sirs & Madams (Aldrich Press, 2014)
“In Sirs & Madams, tones of birth and death compel deftly-drawn characters whose “veins are everywhere.” On the surface, a tight form takes hold: Valente has real command over her structure and voice. But underneath, the nuance blooms; the poems are at once gritty, feminine, natural and morose. This book needs to tell its story and you need to listen. One gets the feeling that reading this book will set someone free. Who is it? You decide.”
— Lisa Marie Basile, author of APOCRYPHAL
The Gods Are Dead (Deadly Chaps Press, 2015)
“These are poems of ritual and sacrifice, where ethereal meaning gets rightfully dismembered and earthy truths read. The Gods Are Dead invokes the rich symbolism of Tarot with lyrical precision, and lends a creative myth to consciousness. Joanna C. Valente writes with the kind of raw energy we all wish we could channel into life.”
— Lucas Hunt, author of Lives and Light on the Concrete
Xenos (Agape Editions, 2016)
“The"stranger” in Joanna Valente’s Xenos writes herself into being, sifting through the detritus of a life that spans Maine, Brooklyn, and a boat to Greece. These are poems of sisterhood, motherhood, self-preservation, desire. Inverse as dangerous and illuminating as berry-stained lips under a clear Aegean moon, Xenos reminds us that we are at once self and not-self, invention and memory, family and exile.“
— Sophia Starmack, author of Wild Rabbit
Marys of the Sea, (The Operating System, 2017)
“Visceral in its fearlessness and candor, Valente’s Marys of the Sea is a bravely, nuanced exploration of the subversive and sensual tensions that pulse in language and flesh. Marys of the Sea speaks of wounds, wombs, regeneration, and how experiences, particularly for women, undulate against a mythos of loneliness that can, without mastery and witnessing, devour. Valente writes, “In other languages my heart/beats us both alive, wedges/between words I speak…/” Here, it is only poetry that can begin to examine the blue underside of Valente’s world and the oceanic perspectives of love that end and begin endlessly in the body, both feeding and killing at once. Valente’s lyric is sinewy and spiritual. A whole world strands itself beautifully in the stunning eyes of Valente’s intuition and intelligence. Always aware of what poetry demands even while it is breaking us apart, Valente’s poems survive wholly in their heart-break: “Early bloomer, still waiting for the one poem/ that will bring me home.’”
— Rachel Eliza Griffiths, author of Lighting the Shadow, Mule & Pear, The Requited Distance, and Miracle Arrhythmia
Sexting Ghosts (Unknown Press, 2018)
“How do you grieve for someone, something still living? How do you grieve the dead without dying yourself? How do you grieve your living self while grieving the ghosts you carry while living? And how, finally, can any of us live in the midst of so much malicious effort to make our lives worthless? Joanna C. Valente’s power- ful, precise SEXTING GHOSTS takes risks with form, voice, language and content to show us how. “Describe a usual day / I am shrinking while this tiny ball / grows another liver inside my lungs,” Valente says, perhaps in a ghost’s voice. Then, we’re offered “the hands of two elk-faced / angels spilling medieval suns/ through their mouths as if to sing” us through “original sin, this / loneliness we are all born with.” Sometimes, it’s as if our ghosts are what keep us alive, ghosts we may not always be able to separate from our angels. Are we home to them, or they our homes after all? “[T]here is no home in america/for us.”“
— Jay Besemer, author of Crybaby City, Chelate, Telephone and The Ways of the Monster
No(body) (Madhouse Press, 2019)
"Writing poetry about pop culture is a gift and Joanna C. Valente shares their poetic skills in this magnificent chapbook No(body).This Brooklyn poet connects with their love of Scully, Mulder, and Walter Skinner with such spectacularly memorable lines as “all tangled by ivy and dirt and breath.” Two of my favorites in this collection are inspired by cartoons as Valente shows their love of Meatwad and Skeeter Valentine with some enchantingly animated lines as “our moms. Will be quivering in the dark like crystalline guitars.” Joanna C. Valente’s pop culture inspired verses are music to my ears. Speaking of music, “Beyoncé Says” is the most empowering poems in this collection. You can feel the singer’s presence throughout every line of this dynamic poem. “Because everything looks better in reflection” is one of my favorite lines in this outstanding collection. What makes No(body) an electrifying revelation is the way Valente embraces the sounds, the sights, and the memories of shows we love by reflecting them with their unique timelessly vivid voice that light up the pages of this riveting collection. If you are a devoted fan of the X-Files, Adult Swim cartoons, and Beyoncé, then Joanna C. Valente’s No(body) is the poetry chapbook you must devour and experience over and over again.”
— Adrian Ernesto Cepeda is the author of Flashes & Verses…Becoming Attractions and Between the Spine.
A Love Story (Vegetarian Alcoholic Press, 2021)
“Valente’s A Love Story is a brilliant collection that explores identity, the body, and how horror bleeds through and stains our person in ways we’re both keenly aware of and desperate to hide. It’s about unfiltered rage, honesty, and beauty, the madness and blending of it a bloody valentine to the shadows and the ghosts sleeping inside them.”
-Stephanie M. Wytovich, Bram Stoker award-winning author of Brothel
η ψυχή, η ψυχή μας | the soul, our soul (Agape Editions, 2023)
“In η ψυχή, η ψυχή μας | the soul, our soul—a hybrid collection of intimate poetic vignettes, vivid illustrated portraits and sketches, and stunning photographs rooted in the timeless landscapes of Greece—Joanna C. Valente reveals the enduring interconnectedness of myth, religion, story, person, and place, inviting us “to know and to see / ourselves // as a certain kind of light.” So enter the soul, our soul and revel in Valente’s tremendous celebration of that light, which is to say you, which is to say love, which is to say life.”
—Raegen Pietrucha, author of Head of a Gorgon and An Animal I Can’t Name, winner of the 2015 Two of Cups Press Prize
Illustrator
Dead Tongue (Yes Poetry, 2020)
“Brief does not mean lacking in substance and depth. Quite the opposite. This tight chapbook collects a group of compact poems revealing a wide range of emotion and concerns, from exile, to marriage, to night fishing. As always, poet Tuon captures the essence of the moment. Dead Tongue's is ably illustrated by Joanna C. Valente with ink line drawings evocative of Picasso, a child’s playroom, moments of whimsy, and more, as the poetry suggests."
-Alan Catlin, poetry and review editor at Misfit Magazine
Self-Reflective Writing Prompts for a Personal Journey (Yes Poetry, 2020)
Finding joy and inspiration can be incredibly difficult no matter what stage of life you're in. Learning to pause, be still, and listen to our bodies takes time and focus. This prompt book is meant to help you create without pressure, to dig deep at your own pace. I’m always looking for new ways to deepen my relationship with myself and the world around me. How can I become better, more attuned, and find meaning around me through creativity? Art can be a helpful tool to understand ourselves better, channel energy, and strengthen our inner coping mechanisms. Mostly, I wanted to focus on finding joy in all things, even the painful moments, even the mundane (and perhaps, especially those things). Plus, I love a good ekphrastic challenge - and who doesn’t love just creating without feeling the pressure of making it “good” - and just allowing the moment to just be.
Raven King (Yes Poetry, 2022)
“This is a book that honors the gendered dead, who are still vulnerable, still speaking.
A ‘fox-haired’ speaker visits their graves to listen, and this other kind of listening is the hallmark of wonder, as much as it is a grief practice, ‘the waves made/ by a body easing in.’ Raven King examines violence as a restless form, and makes a pathway through this material: ‘to what?’ Here, a reader's attention constellates, in the culture made by aftermath itself.”
—Bhanu Kapil