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Overtakelessness: Poems
Winner of the Academy of American Poets First Book Award, selected by Alberto Ríos
Overtakelessness is a powerful reckoning with war, its ruinous proximity to daily existence and the dissonance of experiencing it from afar. These poems trace the long history and the present circumstance of the ongoing and devastating war in Ukraine, a country whose origins far predate Russia’s, despite Moscow’s propagandist claims. Through the lens of the Ukrainian diaspora witnessing the current violence from America, Daniel Moysaenko attempts to square a centuries-old motherland with a newly aggrieved contemporary nation. A third country emerges in these one that, though spectral, exists in a perpetual future, “astounded at what’s left of living.”
In spare lyrics, prose poems, and ravaged blocks of text, Overtakelessness becomes a book of gaps that haunt the spaces between ancient folktales, lost Soviet records, relatives’ failing memories, nationalist misinformation, and the rhythms of Ukrainian speech. Many of these poems are collages mediated by technology, the news coverage of bombings, the photos of soldiers shared on social media, the time delays of Zooming with family—the war experienced firsthand and by smartphone, “its screen a reflective blank, a sky populated by ghosts.” These gaps and rifts argue, finally, that what cannot be held cannot be seized.
Overtakelessness is a moving and extraordinary debut collection.
Overtakelessness is a powerful reckoning with war, its ruinous proximity to daily existence and the dissonance of experiencing it from afar. These poems trace the long history and the present circumstance of the ongoing and devastating war in Ukraine, a country whose origins far predate Russia’s, despite Moscow’s propagandist claims. Through the lens of the Ukrainian diaspora witnessing the current violence from America, Daniel Moysaenko attempts to square a centuries-old motherland with a newly aggrieved contemporary nation. A third country emerges in these one that, though spectral, exists in a perpetual future, “astounded at what’s left of living.”
In spare lyrics, prose poems, and ravaged blocks of text, Overtakelessness becomes a book of gaps that haunt the spaces between ancient folktales, lost Soviet records, relatives’ failing memories, nationalist misinformation, and the rhythms of Ukrainian speech. Many of these poems are collages mediated by technology, the news coverage of bombings, the photos of soldiers shared on social media, the time delays of Zooming with family—the war experienced firsthand and by smartphone, “its screen a reflective blank, a sky populated by ghosts.” These gaps and rifts argue, finally, that what cannot be held cannot be seized.
Overtakelessness is a moving and extraordinary debut collection.
- GenresPoetry
96 pages, Paperback
Published April 7, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 21, 2026
In this remarkable debut collection, the poet paints vivid pictures of the destruction of Ukraine by the Russians and the despair of Ukrainians in diaspora. “Dear Grade School Pen Pal, That I Have Barely Lived” is a one-two punch of guilt and regret.
Favorite Poems:
“Dried Flowers”
“What You’re Looking for Does Not Exist”
“Dead Grade School Pen Pal, That I Have Barely Lived”
“Catalogue Raisonee (Vol. 1)”
“Island”
Favorite Poems:
“Dried Flowers”
“What You’re Looking for Does Not Exist”
“Dead Grade School Pen Pal, That I Have Barely Lived”
“Catalogue Raisonee (Vol. 1)”
“Island”
June 2, 2026
Absolutely stunning poems. It's amazing to watch what Moysaenko does with the line.
May 5, 2026
This is the kind of poetry you have to read several times over. It's such a rich text about coping with circumstances no one should have to live. Much of it is winding and meandering and even disjointed and I think this is a way even the art of language can visualize the way ongoing trauma feels. The poetry itself is inspiring and moving and doesn't leave you with a sense of overtakelessness.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews