Shō Poetry Journal is a nonprofit print journal revived in 2023 after a 20-year hibernation. We publish an eclectic range of poetry twice a year and publish audio features on a rolling basis. Since our re-launch in 2023, poetry published in Shō Poetry Journal has been selected for the Pushcart Prize, Best Spiritual Literature, Best New Poets, and the Monarch Queer Literary Awards. We strive to champion voices that have been historically underrepresented or overlooked. Browse a list of our contributors and follow us on Instagram or Substack for updates.
CURRENT ISSUE
Shō No. 9
This issue features 69 poems by 45 poets: Conal Abatangelo • Jessica Ballen • Anne Barngrover • Madeleine Bazil • Finnegan Bly • Jackson Burgess • Isha Camara • Piera Chen • Shelbi Church • Jordan Cobb • David Eileen • Liv Evans • Allison Field Bell • Emily Harman • Rebecca Hawkes • Kiyanna Hill • Xinyue Huang • Lucas Jorgensen • Sophie Kaiser Rojas • Sheema Kalbasi • Eli Karren • Elina Katrin • Collin Kim • Victoria Kornick • Carolene Kurien • Ethan Kwak • Alice Liang • Jenny Molberg • Ruby Hansen Murray • Adeniyi Odukoya • Rebecca Hart Olander • Misha Ponnuraju • Jenny Sadre-Orafai • Brooke Sahni • Sloane Scott • Alia Shaukat • Jacob Herrera Spears • Nora Sullivan • Aspen Taylor • Gordon Taylor • Preeti Vangani • Jeff Whitney • Andrew Chi Keong Yim • Hananah Zaheer • Joshua Zeitler [Read Contributor Bios]
Cover art: Past Looking by Nara Allsop
PREVIOUS ISSUE
Shō No. 8
This issue features 72 poems by 48 poets: Sean Cho A. • Hiwot Adilow • Elisa Luna Ady • courtney alyce • Seth Amos • Jack B. Bedell • Shlagha Borah • Apollo Chastain • Lyn Li Che • Chen Chen • Stephanie Choi • Lindsay D’Andrea • Loisa Fenichell • Cheyenne C. Fletcher • Reuben Gelley Newman • Carlos Andrés Gómez • Iain Grinbergs • Shira Leah Haus • Sarah Jordan • Joan Naviyuk Kane • Aiman Tahir Khan • Sophie Klahr • Whitney Koo • Giljoon Lee • Elizabeth Loudon • Betsy Mitchell Martinez • Rebecca Morton • Lisa Mottolo • James O’Leary • Mollie O’Leary • william o’neal ii • Konstantinos Patrinos • Ngoc Pham • Jessica Nirvana Ram • Jemma Leigh Roe • Adrie Rose • Rukan Saif • SM Stubbs • Virgil Suárez • Will Summay • Tiezst “Tie” Taylor • Tianyi • Reed Turchi • Margaret Wack • Joey Wańczyk • Gwenyth Wheat • Ross White • Yan Zhang [Read Contributor Bios]
Cover art: “Hopi Leia” by Sikuyva Dawavendewa.
“There are forms of written and verbal communication that I think I absorbed from the carceral environment—the discourses of incarcerated people as well as of their captors and jailors. In terms of the former, I was always taken by the subtle use of metaphor and euphemism. If someone wanted to know when you’d been arrested, they often simply asked, “When did you fall?”
ALEX TRETBAR
READ: A CONVERSATION BETWEEN ALEX TRETBAR & MICHAEL JULIANI
Online Features
Past Issues
Shō No. 7
Winter 2025/2026
Shō No. 7 features 67 poems by 48 poets.
Cover art: “Interim” by Tanya Rastogi
Shō No. 6
Winter 2024/2025
Shō No. 6 features 57 poems by 40 poets.
Cover art: “In Gilded Walls” by Tanya Rastogi.
Shō No. 5
Summer 2024
Shō No. 5 features 68 poems by 47 poets.
Cover art: “Lucy” by Harim Choi.
Shō No. 4
Winter 2023/2024
Shō No. 4 features 73 poems by 47 poets.
Cover art: “Girl with Deer Mask” by Harim Choi.
