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Shō Poetry Journal

Established in 2002, revived in 2023

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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 Poetry Journal is a nonprofit print journal coming out of 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 24, 2025

    Audio Feature: Rosemarie Dombrowski

  • Jun 16, 2025

    Audio Feature: Allisa Cherry (Shō No. 6)

  • Jun 13, 2025

    Contributors’ Notes, Shō No. 7

  • Jun 1, 2025

    Robert Okaji – The Starlings Were You [Shō Poetry 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

Learn a bit about Tanya Rastogi, our talented cove Learn a bit about Tanya Rastogi, our talented cover artist for Shō No. 6 and Shō No 7!

Pictured:
– Shō No. 7 (Summer 2025): “Interim”, 20” x 20”, acrylic on canvas.

– Shō No. 6 Cover (Winter 2024/25): “In Gilded Walls”, 8″ x 24″, acrylic on canvas.

Tanya Rastogi is an artist and writer from Iowa. Her work has been featured in The Adroit Journal, Gone Lawn, and others, and has received national recognition from YoungArts and the Scholastic Awards. She enjoys long walks and a good horror film.

See all of our cover art (since our revival issue): shopoetryjournal.com/cover-art/

#printmag #coverart #coverartist #litmag #coverartists
We are thrilled to announce the winner of the Sita We are thrilled to announce the winner of the Sita Martin Prize for our summer issue: Ohia, Ernest Chigaemezu for his poem “somehow.” Congratulations, @e_for_ernie!

“somehow” will be published in Shō No. 7 (Summer 2025). Get your copy at: shopoetryjournal.com

Ohia, Ernest Chigaemezu is a queer Nigerian poet and editor, currently pursuing an MFA in poetry at the @univofalabama, where he also serves as Design Editor for @blackwarriorrev. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in @_lolwe, The Muse, @20.35africa, @agbowoart, Rigorous, and elsewhere. His chapbook manuscript, "The Wanting Flesh," was a finalist for the 2025 @gardenpartycollective Chapbook Contest.

#poetryprizewinner #sitamartinprize #poetryprize #printmag #writepoetry
We are thrilled to announce the winner of the Shō We are thrilled to announce the winner of the Shō Poetry Prize for our summer issue: Christian J. Collier for his poem “Nocturne.” Congratulations, @ichristian3030!

“Nocturne” and two other poems by Christian J. Collier will be published in Shō No. 7 (Summer 2025). Get your copy at: tinyurl.com/shono7

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.

#poetryprizewinner #shopoetryprize #poetryprize #printmag #writepoetry
We are excited to announce the prize honorees for We are excited to announce the prize honorees for our forthcoming issue! Nina C. Peláez is the runner-up of the Sita Martin Prize for her poem “Doubt.” Nina’s poem will be published in Shō No. 7 (Summer 2025): tinyurl.com/shono7

Nina C. Peláez (www.ninapelaez.com) is a poet, essayist and educator based in Maui, HI where she works as Associate Director for The Merwin Conservancy. An adoptee and daughter of a Cuban exile, she was born in Las Vegas, Nevada and raised in Brooklyn, NY. A Best New Poets nominee, recent work appears or is forthcoming in journals including Prairie Schooner, Narrative, Rattle, Electric Literature, Willow Springs, Waxwing, diode, Pleiades, Swamp Pink, Only Poems & Verse Daily, among others. She was recently awarded the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association/ Gwenn A. Nusbaum Scholarship, a Barbara Deming Memorial Fund Grant, and the Coniston Prize by Radar Poetry, judged by January Gill O’Neil, and her work has been supported with scholarships and fellowships from Yaddo, Tupelo Press, Key West Literary Seminars, and the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, among others. She holds an MFA in Poetry from Bennington College where she is a 2025 Alumni Teaching Fellow. She is working on her first book. Find her on social media @ninacpelaez.

Congratulations, Nina!

#poetrycommunity #printpoetry #poetryprize #sitamartinprize #poetrylovers
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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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