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Shō Poetry Journal

Established in 2002, revived in 2023

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Close-up of a reddish-hued oil on canvas painting by Tanya Rastogi

Shō Poetry Journal is a nonprofit print journal emerging from a 20-year hibernation. We publish an eclectic range of poetry twice a year and publish audio features on a rolling basis. We strive to champion voices that have been historically underrepresented or overlooked. Browse a list of our contributors and follow us on Instagram for updates.

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A girl in a long white dress and a bird head mask sits on a bough under a full moon in a night forest landscape. Her hands are folded in her lap and her feet can't be seen. Text says: Shō Poetry Journal No. 7 Summer 2025.

CURRENT ISSUE

Shō No. 7

SUMMER 2025

This issue features 67 poems by 48 poets, including:

– Christian J. Collier (Winner, Shō Poetry Prize)
– Aldo Amparán (Shō Poetry Prize Runner-Up)
– Ohia, Ernest Chigaemezu (Winner, Sita Martin Prize)
– Nina C. Peláez (Sita Martin Prize Runner-Up)

Cover art: “Interim” by Tanya Rastogi.

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Online Features

  • Jun 29, 2025

    Amber Adams – Okinawa, 2016

  • Jun 29, 2025

    Paige Passantino — Sugar Baby Sonnet

  • Jun 28, 2025

    Nocturne – Christian J. Collier [Shō Poetry Prize Winner]

  • Jun 28, 2025

    Ernest Ohia – somehow [Sita Martin Prize Winner]

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Past Issues

Shō No. 6

Winter 2024/2025

Shō No. 6 features 57 poems by 40 poets.

Cover art: “In Gilded Walls” by Tanya Rastogi.

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Shō No. 5

Summer 2024

Shō No. 5 features 68 poems by 47 poets.

Cover art: “Lucy” by Harim Choi.

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Shō No. 4

Winter 2023/2024

Illustration of girl wearing a large deer head mask with antlers. She is clothed in a dark blue tshirt and pants and stands in a high desert landscape, holding plastic flowers. A ghostly girl’s head is placed beside her in the grass.

Shō No. 4 features 73 poems by 47 poets.

Cover art: “Girl with Deer Mask” by Harim Choi.

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Shō No. 3

Summer/Fall 2023

Shō No. 3 features 62 poems by 42 poets.

Cover art: “Grandfather Autumn” by Juanita Violini.

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Shō Poetry Journal on Instagram

shopoetryjournal

Shō No. 7 | Contents Shō No. 7 | Contents
Welcome to the world, Shō No. 7! Can you believe Welcome to the world, Shō No. 7!

Can you believe it’s been two years since we released our revival issue? 🐻

We’re so excited to share the poems in this issue with you!

Cover art: “Interim” by Tanya Rastogi (@tanyarastogiart) 🌝🐤

Purchase your copy at shopoetryjournal.com

Thank you @bookmobile_printing for helping to birth this beauty.

#litmag #supportindie #literarymagazine #poetryjournal #shopoetryjournal #poetrycommunity #bookmobile
Submissions are Open! We are reading for Shō No. Submissions are Open!

We are reading for Shō No. 8, our winter issue (launch in January 2026). We accept work as we go and typically publish 60-70 poems by 45-50 poets per issue.

Details:
• Submit 3-5 previously unpublished poems. No theme.

• We charge a $3 fee (waived for Native American and Indigenous Canadian poets); we respond to all submissions in 30 days or less.

• Every contributor receives one print copy (including international poets);

• Work accepted for publication is considered for the Sita Martin Prize and the Shō Poetry Prize, which each come with cash awards of $150;

• We nominate for four different prizes.

For more details, visit our website:
shopoetryjournal.com

Artwork: “Lucy” by Harim Choi (@harimmch)

#litmag #printmag #poetrysubmissions #poetrycommunity #literaryjournal #poetrymag #unsolicitedsubmissions #callforsubmissions #writingcommunity #literaryjournal #readingperiod #amsubmitting #amwritingpoetry
New poem online! “Nocturne” by Christian J. Co New poem online! “Nocturne” by Christian J. Collier (@ichristian3030) is forthcoming in our summer issue, Shō No. 7, and was selected by the editors as the Winner of the Shō Poetry Prize.

Read the poem (with audio read by the poet) at shopoetryjournal.com or click in the linktree in our bio.

Two other poems by Christian J. Collier, “Hixson Pastoral” and “I Know Grace Best,” will be published in Shō No. 7.

Christian J. Collier is a Black, Southern writer, arts organizer, and teaching artist who resides in Chattanooga, TN. He is the author of Greater Ghost (Four Way Books, 2024), and the chapbook The Gleaming of the Blade, the 2021 Editors’ Selection from Bull City Press. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, POETRY, December, and elsewhere.

#shopoetryprize #christianjcollier #readapoem #poetrygram #poemgram #shopoetryjournal #poetrycommunity #litmag #nocturne
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Publishing Stats

Since our revival issue was published in Summer 2023:

260

Poems Published

170

Total Poets Published

73

Audio Features Published

28

Poems Nominated for Prizes

1

Poem chosen for inclusion in Best Spiritual Literature

Shō Poetry Journal


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