Daniella Toosie-Watson

What do you need? You need to know about this amazing @notatawp.bsky.social reading with @victoriawrites.bsky.social @taylorbyas.bsky.social and @toosiewatson.bsky.social next month! Register now:

www.eventbrite.com/e/a-nawp-rea...

The preorder link for my debut poetry collection, What We Do with God, releases this Friday 7/18!

What We Do with God, forthcoming Sept 9 from @haymarketbooks.org !

& with that, it is done. My debut poetry collection, What We Do with God, is finalized & off to the printer. After 8 yrs of work—from its inception in grad school (2017) to today—I have a book, my first book.

What We Do with God, forthcoming Sept 9th 2025 from @haymarketbooks.org

Blurb of What We Do with God written by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal. Pink cloud and blue sky background. Pictured: book cover and author photo of Daniella Toosie-Watson who has dark brown curly hair, dark green dress, hand to chin. Blurb: "What We Do With God is a book of thresholds, with each poem mapping a divine passage in the body into language. Grounded, intimate, and embodied, these poems alchemize the mysterious tension between body and spirit—to revel in being vulnerable to become holy, to experience the tenderness of God in the mundane, to know mercy by knowing oneself. This is a luminous collection; Toosie-Watson is a transformational poet." —Vanessa Angélica Villarreal

So, Vanessa Angélica Villarreal says I’m a “transformational poet” and that my debut is “a luminous collection” which means the press of my heart will no longer be accepting opinion submissions. Submissions closed, forever.

What We Do with God, forthcoming Sept. 9th with
@haymarketbooks.org !

Thank you! It feels like the very best thing.

What is the best Love you’ve ever had in this world? Be quiet while thinking about that Love. If someone comes along and starts talking, quietly shoo them away, you’re busy, you’re a poet… Be quiet so quiet, let the very sounds of that Love be heard in your bones.

—CAConrad, from “(Soma)tic 6”

Vievee Francis’s blurb for my debut poetry collection, What We Do with God, forthcoming Sept 9th from @haymarketbooks.org ♥️ .

WOW. Just received this email from Vievee Francis, who graciously agreed to blurb my debut poetry collection, What We Do with God, forthcoming Sept 9th from @haymarketbooks.org . I just read her blurb and I’m struck with awe and deep gratitude. Posting the blurb in the morning, look out for it!

I hope my experiences in the literary world—both fulfilling and fury-inspiring—will provide you with tools, or at least information, as you move through it yourself.

Also: I paint things. You will see painted things.

See you there <3.

That's also a really good question: yes I will be sharing personal reflections, art updates, behind-the-scenes process, tips for navigating creative life (especially the literary landscape is daunting for so many of us) & maybe musings from my occasional existential-crisis-series entitled: my life.

Is the title of the newsletter a riff off my debut poetry collection forthcoming with Haymarket Books this Sept 9th, What We Do with God: perhaps.



It's on Substack—and no, you do not need a Substack account to subscribe and receive emails. Will I be inundating you with emails? Also no! It’ll go out 1-2 a month.

Daniella Toosie-Watson | Substack Author: What We Do with God (Haymarket Books, Sept. 2025) | Poems: The Atlantic, The Paris Review, Oxford Poetry, Callaloo, Virginia Quarterly Review, and elsewhere | Hates raisins (will fight a raisi...

It's true! My newsletter, What We Do with Newsletters, is live and ready for you to subscribe.

substack.com/@whatwedowit...

It’s 7pm Friday, it’s 52 degrees, I was supposed to send out my newsletter today but I’m having technical difficulties.

On Monday look out for the link to sign up for my new newsletter, “What We Do with Newsletters”!!

Stay tuned!

…that I hope will encourage you to pursue and rest in your respective creative practices.

Expect behind-the-scenes insights, sneak peeks at my journey as a writer & artist, and opportunities for your work to be shared & celebrated.

Stay tuned for the launch (tomorrow)!

Inspired by my debut poetry collection, What We Do with God, forthcoming Sept 9th with @haymarketbooks , What We Do with Newsletters (we love a riff) is a synergistic space of my writing, art, & insights into the personal shit that has informed the how’s & why’s of my creative process & journey…

A picture of my face pasted on a man holding up a sign that has been replaced my by book cover

ANNOUNCING: What We Do with Newsletters ✨

Friends! It’s been a while. But here we are, and I’m excited to announce my upcoming newsletter, What We Do with Newsletters.

Tomorrow I start my trek to Georgia to interview for a job that would literally change everything & give me stability. I’m selling my art & taking on commissions for food/transportation while I’m there.

Also open to gifts:
Venmo: @ danijoon
Cash app: $Daniellajoon

Thank you! Please share!

No, I don’t know why I’m like this. Yes, I love you, friends. I hope to hold your faces soon & I hope you’ll be wearing masks. Read so many poems for me. In the most Billie Holiday of ways: I’ll be seeing you ♥️.

The cover reveal was going to be April 1st but I decided to make it April 2nd bc nothing’s funny. Though I told the job committee I interviewed w/ that they should hire me bc I’m funny & they invited me to Georgia for a 2nd interview.

It’s a love letter to survivors of sexual violence. It’s a love letter to people who love God but don’t love the church. It’s a love letter to my younger self who survived through her silence & is now pushing back with a voice. Eternally grateful to @haymarketbooks.org for giving my book a home.

Wishing I was at AWP w/ you all, my friends. I wrote a poem yesterday—I hope that counts. Next year I’ll be at AWP. My book will have come out. The release date is this coming Sept 9. I hope you’ll read it & find goodness or rage or comfort or whatever you need from it. 🧵

MY BOOK HAS A COVER! Cover reveal coming soon soon soon.

What We Do with God, forthcoming with @haymarketbooks Sept 9th 2025!

Blurbs locked in! All four of my dream blurbers said “yes” & I’m so grateful. What We Do with God forthcoming with @haymarketbooks.org Sept 9, 2025!

Last night, my partner/my baby/my beloved said something to the effect of, “you mistake suffering for life. Suffering isn’t life, it’s suffering.” Today, I got a hair refresh & spent time outside. Maybe I’ll read later. Maybe I’ll nap. But I’ll remember to make the distinction.

Hello Booksky, I seriously need writing/editing/teaching gigs. I’m short on funds right now, and with bills mounting like bulls on heat, the pressure is somewhat inundating. Please if you have any job for me, or know anyone who does, or come across any job opportunity, please share with me. Thanks.

Please repost.

Just received the copy edits for my forthcoming, debut poetry collection, What We Do With God, which means I’m one step closer to having my book in the world 😭🤲🏼. What We Do With God, slated to be released w/ @haymarketbooks.org Sept 9, 2025!

This café keeps replaying the classical sample of ASAP Rocky “Praise the Lord” which I think is fitting because I just landed an interview to be Associate Editor of a v cool journal. More soon!

Now taking commissions for book covers. Here are examples of covers I've done, for Dr. Joshua Bennett and Monica Rico. DM me or submit an inquiry on my website toosie.art !