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Shō Poetry Journal

Established in 2002, revived in 2023

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Prizes

A photo of Christian J. Collier, a Black Poet, wearing a red t-shirt, grey blazer, and off-white flat cap. He is looking directly into the camera.

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

Jun 28, 2025 · Shō Poetry Journal

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.

A black-and-white photo of a Black man gazing up to the right. His face is bathed in light, his gaze is soft, and he wears a turtleneck sweater.

Ernest Ohia – somehow [Sita Martin Prize Winner]

Jun 28, 2025 · Shō Poetry Journal

“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

Black and white photograph of a woman with short hair wearing a dress.

Nina C. Peláez – Doubt [Sita Martin Prize Runner-Up]

Jun 27, 2025 · Shō Poetry Journal

“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.

A person with short, reddish-brown hair & a neatly trimmed goatee wears a black beret & a black sweater, standing among leafless branches.

Aldo Amparán — Symptoms of Ghosts [Shō Poetry Prize Runner-Up]

Jun 27, 2025 · Shō Poetry Journal

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

Black and white: A mixed-race white-Japanese man in contemplation by a sunny window. He wears a collared print shirt and a pair of glasses perched on his nose.

Robert Okaji – The Starlings Were You [Shō Poetry Prize Winner]

Jun 1, 2025 · Shō Poetry Journal

“The Starlings Were You” by Robert Okaji, Winner of the Shō Poetry Prize for Shō No. 6 (Winter 2024/25).

Morning was a jaundiced memory,
a burnished smear on the kettle
shrilling its warning.

A Caucasian woman with a slight smile on her face stands in sunlight on the balcony of a tall apartment building. She has shoulder-length light blonde hair and wears a black v-neck top with short ruffled sleeves.

Maja Lukic – Your Mother Knew Many Words for Beauty and Used All of Them to Call You [Sita Martin Prize Winner]

Feb 27, 2025 · Shō Poetry Journal

Winner of the Sita Martin Prize for Shō No. 6 (Winter 2024/25).

In shop windows, you are strange / to yourself, your face a drifting moon, / eyes and mouth dark shafts.

A young South Asian woman is sitting indoors and is turned to face the camera, smiling. She wears large black-framed glasses and a set of black headphones.

Ranudi Gunawardena – Girl Cousins, Pixelated [Sita Martin Prize Runner-Up]

Feb 5, 2025 · Shō Poetry Journal

Runner-Up of the Sita Martin Prize for Shō No. 6 (Winter 2024/25).

The fruit / hung bending the branches, like a hundred // small stomachs, bird-eaten and naked / where the beaks had pierced.

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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