Xinyue Huang — Occasion #1 [Sita Martin Prize Winner]
Read Xinyue Huang's poem “Occasion #1,” which was selected with two other “Occasion” poems as the winner of the Sita Martin Prize for Shō No. 9 (Summer 2026).
Rebecca Hart Olander — An Old Story [Shō Poetry Prize Winner]
Read Rebecca Hart Olander's poem “An Old Story,” winner of the Shō Poetry Prize for Shō No. 9 (Summer 2026).
Elina Katrin — Beach Day with Tsvetaeva [Shō Poetry Prize Runner-Up]
Read Elina Katrin's poem "Beach Day with Tsvetaeva," Runner-Up of the Shō Poetry Prize for Shō No. 9 (Summer 2026)
Ethan Kwak — Untitled by Rothko, 1968 [Sita Martin Prize Runner-Up]
Read "Untitled by Rothko, 1968" by Ethan Kwak, Runner-Up of the Sita Martin Prize for Shō Poetry Journal No. 9 (Summer 2026).
Betsy Mitchell Martinez – Self-Portrait as Frida Kahlo with Prickly Pear [Shō Poetry Prize Winner]
Read “Self-Portrait as Frida Kahlo with Prickly Pear” by Betsy Mitchell Martinez, one of three poems chosen for the Shō Poetry Prize for Shō No. 8 (Winter 2025/2026).
Cheyenne C. Fletcher – Lady of the Holler [Winner of the Sita Martin Prize]
Read “Lady of the Holler” by Cheyenne C. Fletcher. “Lady of the Holler,” “Obit #1,” and “Obit #2” were selected for the Sita Martin Prize for Shō No. 8.
Rukan Saif — Harami Ghazal [Sita Martin Prize Runner-Up]
Read and listen to “Harami Ghazal” by Rukan Saif, chosen as the runner-up of the Sita Martin Prize for Shō No. 8 (Winter 2025/2026).
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
Robert Okaji – The Starlings Were You [Shō Poetry Prize Winner]
“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.
Maja Lukic – Your Mother Knew Many Words for Beauty and Used All of Them to Call You [Sita Martin Prize Winner]
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.
Ranudi Gunawardena – Girl Cousins, Pixelated [Sita Martin Prize Runner-Up]
Read Ranudi Gunawardena's poem “Girl Cousins, Pixelated,” accompanied by a recording of the poet reading her poem. 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.