Shō Poetry Journal

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Shō Poetry Journal

Shō is a small press print journal coming out of a 20-year hibernation. Reading until September 30. Before going to press she passed on from this world.

Shō Poetry Journal was started in 2002 by Chia Martin when she was battling cancer. She wanted to create a platform to promote the work of poets she knew and admired. Sponsored by Hohm Press, she solicited work from nine poets, collected a total of sixty-eight poems, and arranged them in her preferred order. This present incarnation of Shō is edited by Johnny Cordova and Dominique Ahkong, a husban

d and wife team. Our tastes are divergent but there is a lot of overlap. We share a similar aesthetic and usually agree on what constitutes good – or compelling – poetry. Shō aims to carry on the small-press tradition of giving voice to outsiders and non-establishment poets. We believe that some of the most interesting poetry is written by the working class, by poets from the streets, by those steeped in life experience. We believe that reading poetry should be a visceral experience. We shy away from the abstract and obtuse.

01/03/2024

The first weekend of the month is just around the corner, which means free submissions for Black poets. Get your packets ready!

12/31/2023

Check out our page of recent and forthcoming books from poets who contributed to our revival issue! Watch this page…

Link in bio / bit.ly/sho3love

12/31/2023

2023 was a big year for us. We brought Shō out of a 20-year hibernation and are excited to see what the future holds. We appreciate the support we’ve received from the poetry community. Thank you to everyone who sent us work ♥️

12/24/2023

Listen to Alfonso Zapata read his poem, "Leaving My Abuelos' Basement, Christmas Eve 2015" (Shō No. 3, Summer/Fall 2023). Listen here or on our website: https://shopoetryjournal.com/audio-feature-alfonso-zapata

Alfonso Zapata recently received his MFA in poetry at The University of Kentucky, and has attended The University of Toledo and The University of Southern Mississippi, where he obtained his master’s degree in poetry. He has previously received the Jim Lawless IV Poetry Prize, and the 2022/2023 University of Kentucky MFA Poetry Awards. His debut chapbook, Together Now, will be released in the Fall of 2024 by Belle Point Press.

12/20/2023

Listen to Ellen June Wright read her poem, “I Am What Happens When Nature Has Its Way” (Shō No. 3, Summer/Fall 2023). Listen here or on our website: https://shopoetryjournal.com/audio-feature-ellen-june-wright-sho-no-3/

Ellen June Wright is an American poet with British and Caribbean roots. Her work has been published in Plume, Tar River, Missouri Review, Verse Daily, Gulf Stream, Solstice, Louisiana Literature, Leon Literary Review, North American Review, Prelude and Gulf Coast, and is forthcoming in the Cimarron Review. She’s a Cave Canem and Hurston/Wright alumna and a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee.

12/16/2023

Meanwhile reading submissions

12/15/2023

Look at this contributor list for Shō No. 4! 🤩

12/15/2023

Now available for pre-order! Shō No. 4 features 73 poems by 47 poets and cover art by Harim Choi. We are thrilled to publish work from these folks.

Preorder your copy here:
https://shopoetryjournal.com/product/sho-no-4/

Issue ships in January.

12/12/2023

We are thrilled to feature work by Harim Choi on the cover of our upcoming issue of Shō. Please give her work some love and follow her on Instagram

12/11/2023

Cover reveal: Shō No. 4 (Winter 2024)
Artwork by Harim Choi (), “Girl with Deer Mask,” after Frida Kahlo.

Shō No. 4 is scheduled for release in January 2024.
Our pre-order link and full list of contributors will be released this week!

12/05/2023

Behind the scenes: Dominique’s current status. Almost there! A few more tweaks before Shō No. 4 goes to print. We can’t wait to introduce our cover artist.

12/02/2023

Because we are based in Arizona, where 27% of the state is reservation land, we offer free submissions to Native American poets as a gesture of solidarity.

https://shopoetryjournal.submittable.com/submit/280632/free-submissions-for-native-poets-sh-no-5

11/30/2023

Submissions for Shō No. 5 open tonight at midnight Arizona time.

Rock our socks!

We respond to all submissions in 30 days or less.

https://shopoetryjournal.submittable.com/submit/280634/poetry-submissions-sh-no-5

11/29/2023

Submissions for Shō No. 5 open December 1.

For this reading period we are offering free submissions for Black poets the first weekend of every month.

We respond to all submissions in 30 days or less.

https://shopoetryjournal.submittable.com/submit/280638/free-submissions-for-black-poets-sh-no-5

11/22/2023

10/26/2023

Congratulations and good luck to our Pushcart nominees:

Ally Ang
Sean Thomas Dougherty
Andrew Payton
Sage Ravenwood
Dare Williams
Ellen June Wright

10/15/2023

Today is the official release date for Robert L. Penick’s The Art of Mercy: New & Selected Poems.

You can purchase it on Amazon, order it at your local bookstore, or put in a request with your local library.

It’s also available on our website.

10/11/2023

We’ve nominated six poems from our revival issue for Orison Books’ Best Spiritual Literature anthology.

Good luck, poets!
We like your chances.

• Eliana Chow • Jo Angela Edwins • Sage Ravenwood • Bunkong Tuon • Ellen June Wright • Cooper Young

10/05/2023

Ten more days before the official release date of Robert L. Penick’s The Art of Mercy, but we have copies in stock already.

Pair it with any copy of Shō (or a subscription) for free shipping.

https://shopoetryjournal.com/product/the-art-of-mercy-by-robert-l-penick/

09/30/2023

If you’re at Brooklyn Book Festival tomorrow, look for Shō Poetry Journal in the Literary Marketplace! The good folks at CLMP (Tables 316/317) will be giving away free copies of our revival issue, along with other goodies from other publishers founded/led by or championing writing by people of color ♥️
Go early; copies are limited!

09/28/2023

There are a few more days to submit to Shō!

We are reading for Shō No. 4, which will be published in January.

General submissions close September 30.

Free submissions for Native poets close October 1.

Guidelines here: http://shopoetryjournal.submittable.com

09/22/2023

😭 Say it ain’t so,

09/21/2023

We’re excited to be featuring work from these folks in Shō Number 4. We’ll be reading for ten more days before we take a break to put the issue together. Send us poems! 🍑🥭🍠

09/14/2023

Shō Poetry Journal is open to poetry submissions for their fourth issue through September 30! Poets who identify as Native American or First Nations can submit for free: https://www.clmp.org/members/open-submission/72099-2/

09/08/2023

If you have a poetry book coming out in 2024 and want homes for those poems, consider submitting to Shō! Shō No. 4 is scheduled for release in January 2024. Our reading period for this issue closes on September 30, 2023.

09/08/2023

What we’ve been up to:
– Reading submissions for Shō No. 4 (subs close at the end of the month!)
– Trying to get Shō No. 3 into more venues across the country
– Compiling a list of new and forthcoming books from our wonderful contributors (pictured here).

08/31/2023

So far we’ve accepted 46 poems by 30 poets for Shō No. 4. We’re looking for more kickass work! Please spread the word.

Submissions remain open until September 30th.

shopoetryjournal.submittable.com/submit

08/27/2023

Shō is open for submissions! Send us your loud poems, your quiet poems, the poems you recite in your sleep.

shopoetryjournal.submittable.com/submit

Address

PO Box 4410
Chino Valley, AZ
86323

Website

https://shopoetryjournal.com/

Alerts

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Videos

Alfonso Zapata reads his poem, "Leaving My Abuelos' Basement, Christmas Eve 2015"

Listen to Alfonso Zapata read his poem, "Leaving My Abuelos' Basement, Christmas Eve 2015" (Shō No. 3, Summer/Fall 2023). Listen here or on our website: https://shopoetryjournal.com/audio-feature-alfonso-zapata Alfonso Zapata recently received his MFA in poetry at The University of Kentucky, and has attended The University of Toledo and The University of Southern Mississippi, where he obtained his master’s degree in poetry. He has previously received the Jim Lawless IV Poetry Prize, and the 2022/2023 University of Kentucky MFA Poetry Awards. His debut chapbook, Together Now, will be released in the Fall of 2024 by Belle Point Press.

Ellen June Wright reads her poem, "I Am What Happens When Nature Has Its Way"

Listen to Ellen June Wright read her poem, “I Am What Happens When Nature Has Its Way” (Shō No. 3, Summer/Fall 2023). Listen here or on our website: https://shopoetryjournal.com/audio-feature-ellen-june-wright-sho-no-3/ Ellen June Wright is an American poet with British and Caribbean roots. Her work has been published in Plume, Tar River, Missouri Review, Verse Daily, Gulf Stream, Solstice, Louisiana Literature, Leon Literary Review, North American Review, Prelude and Gulf Coast, and is forthcoming in the Cimarron Review. She’s a Cave Canem and Hurston/Wright alumna and a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee.