Audio Feature: Vasvi Kejriwal
Listen to Vasvi Kejriwal read her poem “After My Father Died,” published in Shō No. 7 (Summer 2025).
Audio Feature: Nicholas Yingling
Listen to Nicholas Yingling read his poem “Somewhere Between Salvation and Creation,” published in Shō No. 7 (Summer 2025). We nominated this poem for Best Spiritual Literature.
Native American Heritage Month 2025
To celebrate Native American Heritage Month, we've curated this selection of poems by Indigenous U.S. poets Danielle Shandiin Emerson (Diné), Chris Hoshnic (Diné), Malia Maxwell (Kanaka Maoli), Tim Moder (Chippewa), Sofia Rasic (Cherokee), and J.K. Tsosie (Diné). Their work was recently published in Shō No. 7 and Shō No. 6.
Audio Feature: Aleks Zywicki
Listen to Aleks Zywicki read “rewatching the film” from Shō No. 7 (Summer 2025). About this poem: “rewatching the film” is an ekphrasis poem inspired by the 2013 film, Under the Skin. I don’t really like violent movies and I’m not even sure that I can say I enjoyed seeing this one. But right in …
Filipino American History Month Round Up
To celebrate National Filipino American Heritage Month, we've curated this selection of poems by by Hannah Keziah Agustin (Shō No. 7); Karla Myn Khine and Akira Ritos (Shō No. 5), and Elise Thi Tran and MT Vallarta (Shō No. 4).
Nicholas Pierce Interviews Bobby Elliott
What's Possible When Poetry Is Direct: An Interview with Bobby Elliott, author of “The Same Man,” winner of the 2025 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize, selected by Nate Marshall.
Audio Feature: Bobby Elliott
Listen to Bobby Elliott read “The Fall of 1990” from Shō No. 7 (Summer 2025).
Hispanic Heritage Month Playlist 2025
To celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, we've curated this selection of poems by US-based Shō Poetry Journal contributors. This playlist features audio recordings by Jenna Martínez, Asheley Nova Navarro, Nina C. Peláez (Shō No. 7); Alejandro Lucero (Shō No. 6); Jasmine Khaliq, José Oseguera, Sara Santistevan (Shō No. 5); Faith Gómez Clark, Nathan Xavier Osorio, Laura Villareal (Shō No. 4); and Alfonso Zapata (Shō No. 3).
Christian J. Collier — Nocturne [Shō Poetry Prize Winner]
Read “Nocturne” by Christian J. Collier, Winner of the Shō Poetry Prize for Shō No. 7 (Summer 2025).
I believed I could be more than man &, for two hours, became
the darkest bird in Hamilton County—barely eighteen,
midnight blue, resting my warm, bare feet on sheets of gale
as fog-sopped night made kindred of me.
Ernest Ohia – somehow [Sita Martin Prize Winner]
“somehow” by Ohia, Ernest Chigaemezu, Winner of the Sita Martin Prize for Shō No. 7 (Summer 2025):
it begins with dreams where your heart flutters nonstop in an airplane bound for america used to be a part of your dreams now are like cicadas throwing a wild party & you're clueless as fuck your papery heart
Nina C. Peláez – Doubt [Sita Martin Prize Runner-Up]
“Doubt” by Nina C. Peláez, Runner-Up of the Sita Martin Prize for Shō No. 7 (Summer 2025).
At the cattle farm, I fell in love with a boy
who thought he was a god. I too, believed
this sometimes.
Aldo Amparán — Symptoms of Ghosts [Shō Poetry Prize Runner-Up]
Runner-Up of the Shō Poetry Prize for Shō No. 7 (Summer 2025).
“The main reason behind the gay orientation of some
men is that they are possessed by female ghosts.”
— Spiritual Science Research Foundation