New York, NY (March 31, 2025)—The Academy of American Poets is pleased to announce that Daniel Moysaenko has been selected as the winner of the 2025 First Book Award for his debut collection, Overtakelessness. The winning manuscript was chosen by Alberto Ríos, a past First Book Award recipient (1981) and Academy Chancellor (2013–18).

For fifty years, the First Book Award has launched the careers of some of contemporary poetry’s most compelling voices, including Kweku Abimbola, Kemi Alabi, April Bernard, Nicole Cooley, Suji Kwock Kim, Matt Rasmussen, Sara Daniele Rivera, Mai Der Vang, and Jenny Xie. Many past recipients have gone on to notable achievements in literature—writing, publishing, teaching, and winning additional awards and recognition from the National Book Foundation, National Book Critics Circle, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. With Overtakelessness, Daniel Moysaenko joins a distinguished legacy of poets whose work has shaped contemporary literature.

In selecting Moysaenko’s manuscript, Ríos praised the collection for its haunting, unflinching exploration of a Ukraine scarred by war:

In this deeply affecting collection, each poem confronts the brutal realities of war-torn Ukraine, fiercely alive in its details. The poet bears witness and survives, capturing conflict through unforgettable moments that lay bare harsh, often inhuman truths.

Through a compassionate gaze and precise language, Moysaenko crafts not only a chronicle of suffering but also a testament to endurance. This is a vital, urgent work that ensures Ukraine’s story is heard in every line, each word a pulse in the undying heart of its people.

Moysaenko’s Overtakelessness will be published by Graywolf Press—a leading nonprofit publisher of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction—in April 2026. As the award recipient, he will receive $5,000; a six-week residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy; prominent features on Poets.org, one of the nation’s most visited poetry websites, and in American Poets, the Academy’s biannual magazine, which reaches 10,000 members; and book distribution to these members, whose financial support makes the publication possible, ensuring that it becomes one of the most widely circulated poetry collections of the year.

About Daniel Moysaenko

Daniel Moysaenko is a Ukrainian American poet, translator, and critic. His work has appeared in The Nation, Poetry, The Poetry Review, The Iowa Review, Harvard Review, and Chicago Review. He holds an MFA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a PhD in poetry from Florida State University. He lives in Ohio’s Chagrin Valley.

About Alberto Ríos

Alberto Ríos is the author of thirteen books and chapbooks of poetry, three collections of short stories, a memoir, and a novel. His poetry collections include Every Sound is Not a Wolf (Copper Canyon Press, 2025); Not Go Away Is My Name (Copper Canyon Press, 2020); The Theater of Night (Copper Canyon Press, 2005), winner of the 2007 PEN/Beyond Margins Award; and The Smallest Muscle in the Human Body (Copper Canyon Press, 2002), a finalist for the National Book Award. He is the recipient of the Western Literature Association’s Distinguished Achievement Award, the Arizona Governor’s Arts Award, and fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Ríos is a Regents’ Professor at Arizona State University, where he has taught since 1982. He is Arizona’s inaugural poet laureate and a former Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. In 2017, he was named director of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing.

About the Academy of American Poets

The Academy of American Poets is a leading champion of poets and poetry in the United States. Through its robust prize program, the organization awards over $1.3 million annually to poets across the country. The Academy also operates Poets.org, the world’s most popular publicly funded poetry website; organizes National Poetry Month, the largest literary celebration in the world; publishes Poem-a-Day and American Poets magazine; provides educational resources for K–12 teachers and adult learners; and leads the Poetry Coalition, a network of organizations dedicated to promoting the vital role of poetry in our culture. 

About Civitella Ranieri

Located in a fifteenth-century castle in the Umbrian region of Italy, Civitella Ranieri is a residency for writers, composers, and visual artists. Since 1995, Civitella has hosted more than one thousand Fellows and Director’s Guests from all over the world. Civitella enables its Fellows to pursue their work and to exchange ideas in a unique and inspiring setting. For more information, visit civitella.org. 

About Graywolf Press

Graywolf Press publishes risk-taking, visionary writers who transform culture through literature. Recent books published by Graywolf have won the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize, the Booker Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the National Book Award, among other honors. Visit graywolfpress.org for more information.