Shō is an Arizona-based nonprofit print journal coming out of a 20-year hibernation. We publish an eclectic array of poetry twice a year—in winter and summer—and release online audio features on a rolling basis. By publishing an average of 90 poets per year and facilitating connections through social media, we strive to expand on the small-press tradition of championing voices that have been historically underrepresented or overlooked.
In our pages, words from a Zen Abbot may appear alongside those of an American machinist, a queer poet of color holding their first print publication, a mother ‘emerging’ in her mid-50s, and a 20-something MFA graduate who’s just won her first Pushcart Prize. Their voices come together in an issue with striking cover art. When possible, we work with new and early-career artists to create cover art tailored to each issue. We encourage work from poets who confront their truths and engage us with clarity, vulnerability, and emotional honesty.
Beginning with Shō No. 6, we award editors’ prizes to the two best poems in each issue: the Sita Martin Prize, named after our founding editor, who during her battle with terminal cancer turned to promoting the work of new and emerging poets; and the Shō Poetry Prize, which honors a poem regardless of the poet’s publication history.
During each reading period, we accept paper submissions from incarcerated individuals and offer at least one free reading window to BIPOC poets. Submissions are always free for Native American poets.
Shō Poetry Journal (ISSN 1539-8145) is a publication of Beggar Poet Press, a new 501(c)(3) literary nonprofit, and is archived at The University of Arizona Poetry Center. Since our re-launch in 2023, poetry that first appeared in Shō has been republished in Verse Daily and chosen for inclusion in Best Spiritual Literature 2024.