• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer

OUR SUMMER ISSUE IS HERE! ORDER HERE: SHŌ NO. 9
GET YOUR COPY BEFORE OUR WEB SHOP GOES ON BREAK (JULY 28 – AUGUST 30)

POETRY submissions are OPEn!
free bipoc pop-up: july 4 – 5 (capped) — submit here (opens 10am pt)

congratulations to erica dawson on winning a pushcart prize!
listen to her poem here.

Shō Poetry Journal

Established in 2002, revived in 2023

  • Read a Poem
  • Listen
    • Shō Number Eight
    • Shō Number Seven
    • Shō Number Six
    • Shō Number Five
    • Shō Number Four
    • Shō Number Three
    • Themed Playlists
      • Black History Month Playlist 2026
      • Mental Health Awareness Month Playlist 2026
      • Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month Playlist 2026
      • Jewish American Heritage Month Playlist 2026
      • Native American Heritage Month (2025)
      • Filipino American History Month (2025)
      • Hispanic Heritage Month Playlist (2025)
      • Pride Month Playlist #2 (2025)
      • Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month Roundup (2025)
      • Black History Month Playlist (2025)
      • Women’s History Month Round Up (2025)
      • Pride Month Playlist #1 (2024)
  • Interviews
    • A Conversation with Mckendy Fils-Aimé
    • Nicholas Pierce Interviews Bobby Elliott
    • A Conversation with Arah Ko
    • A Conversation with Nathan Xavier Osorio
  • Buy
    • Current Issue
    • All Issues
  • About
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Story
    • Masthead
    • Accolades
    • Contact
  • Shō Family
    • Contributors
    • Contributors (by issue)
    • Nominations
    • Cover Art
    • Books from Shō No. 3 Poets
  • Submit
    • Submissions
    • The Sita Martin Prize
    • The Shō Poetry Prize
    • Prize Winners
  • Donate
  • Cart

Read a Poem

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

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.

A brown-skinned Cambodian man wearing a bright pink short-sleeve shirt sits in a park, smiling at the camera. A large tree fills the background.

Bunkong Tuon: Wanting Kids

Feb 1, 2025 · Shō Poetry Journal

"Wanting Kids" by Bunkong Tuon

Sean Thomas Dougherty – Hanzi in the Rain

Jan 1, 2025 · Shō Poetry Journal

I think I'm tiring of auditioning. / I'm not dancing for bread anymore.

  • Previous
  • Page 1
  • Page 2

Publishing Stats

Since our revival issue was published in Summer 2023:

444

Poems Published

310

Total Poets Published

176

Audio Features Published

61

Prize Nominations

6

Poems chosen for inclusion in anthologies

Shō Poetry Journal


is a proud member of the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses.

Our Story
Masthead
Accolades
Donate
Contact
Submit
FAQ
Newsletter

  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Bluesky

Copyright © 2026 · Shō Poetry Journal · All Rights Reserved

Privacy policy

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.