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Shō Poetry Journal

Established in 2002, revived in 2023

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Shō Poetry Journal is a nonprofit print journal emerging from a 20-year hibernation. We publish an eclectic range of poetry twice a year and publish audio features on a rolling basis. We strive to champion voices that have been historically underrepresented or overlooked. Browse a list of our contributors and follow us on Instagram for updates.

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A girl in a long white dress and a bird head mask sits on a bough under a full moon in a night forest landscape. Her hands are folded in her lap and her feet can't be seen. Text says: Shō Poetry Journal No. 7 Summer 2025.

CURRENT ISSUE

Shō No. 7

SUMMER 2025

This issue features 67 poems by 48 poets, including:

– Christian J. Collier (Winner, Shō Poetry Prize)
– Aldo Amparán (Shō Poetry Prize Runner-Up)
– Ohia, Ernest Chigaemezu (Winner, Sita Martin Prize)
– Nina C. Peláez (Sita Martin Prize Runner-Up)

Cover art: “Interim” by Tanya Rastogi.

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Online Features

  • Sep 4, 2025

    Samodh Porawagamage — Two postcard poems from To Punani Camp

  • Aug 18, 2025

    Nicholas Pierce — Two Sonnets from Pierce Junction

  • Jul 25, 2025

    Audio Feature: Jo Bear

  • Jul 24, 2025

    Audio Feature: Richard Collins

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Past Issues

Shō No. 6

Winter 2024/2025

Shō No. 6 features 57 poems by 40 poets.

Cover art: “In Gilded Walls” by Tanya Rastogi.

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Shō No. 5

Summer 2024

Shō No. 5 features 68 poems by 47 poets.

Cover art: “Lucy” by Harim Choi.

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Shō No. 4

Winter 2023/2024

Illustration of girl wearing a large deer head mask with antlers. She is clothed in a dark blue tshirt and pants and stands in a high desert landscape, holding plastic flowers. A ghostly girl’s head is placed beside her in the grass.

Shō No. 4 features 73 poems by 47 poets.

Cover art: “Girl with Deer Mask” by Harim Choi.

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Shō No. 3

Summer/Fall 2023

Shō No. 3 features 62 poems by 42 poets.

Cover art: “Grandfather Autumn” by Juanita Violini.

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Shō Poetry Journal on Instagram

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New on our website: Two postcard poems by Samodh P New on our website: Two postcard poems by Samodh Porawagamage, from his manuscript "To Punani Camp." Three of Samodh's postcard poems are featured in Shō No. 6 (Winter 2024/25).

About these poems: My book manuscript "To Punani Camp," set during the Sri Lankan Civil War, comprises sent, unsent, and crossed-out postcards a soldier’s wife would write to her husband. Challenging a highly problematic literary and cinematic trend to glorify the civil war, this manuscript employs lyrical prose poetry vs standard prose; is narrated by a woman instead of a man; the military conflict and its aftermath take place off- stage vs onstage; and is a revisionist domestic epic vs a battlefield epic. As such, it attempts to recognize the unacknowledged services of women to the war campaign. It is also an attempt at capturing the rural Sinhala idiomatic expression in English and feminizing it. My most ambitious project yet, it deals with issues of poverty, underdevelopment, life in a border village, and the costs of war.

Samodh Porawagamage (@3rdworld3rdclass) writes about the Sri Lankan Civil War, 2004 tsunami, poverty and underdevelopment, and colonial and imperial atrocities. becoming sam, selected by Jaswinder Bolina and published by Burnside Review Press, is his debut collection of poetry. He works at Hamilton College.
A huge thank you to everyone who submitted work fo A huge thank you to everyone who submitted work for our winter issue! Submissions are now closed. We’re excited to discuss work in this review folder at our editorial meeting this week!
Last call for submissions for Shō No. 8! We're st Last call for submissions for Shō No. 8! We're still seeking work for our winter issue. Submissions close on August 31 at 11.59pm PT. We respond to submissions in 30 days or less.
It's official: Shō Poetry Journal now nominates w It's official: Shō Poetry Journal now nominates work for Best of the Net! We are pleased to share our nominees for the 2026 anthology:

Amber Adams (@amberadamspoet), "Okinawa, 2016"

Aldo Amparán (@skygoneout), "Symptoms of Ghosts"

Christian J. Collier (@ichristian3030), "Nocturne"

Ohia, Ernest Chigaemezu (@e_for_ernie), "somehow"

Paige Passantino (@paigeellenpassantino), "Sugar Baby Sonnet"

Nina C. Peláez (@ninacpelaez), "Doubt"

Read these selected poems online at: shopoetryjournal.com/category/read/

These poems appear in Shō No. 7 (Summer 2025) alongside work by 41 other fantastic poets.
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Publishing Stats

Since our revival issue was published in Summer 2023:

327

Poems Published

224

Total Poets Published

78

Audio Features Published

28

Poems Nominated for Prizes

1

Poem chosen for inclusion in Best Spiritual Literature

Shō Poetry Journal


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