Shō Poetry Journal is an Arizona-based nonprofit print journal coming out of a 20-year hibernation. We publish an eclectic array of poetry in print and release online audio features on a rolling basis. We strive to expand on the small-press tradition of championing voices that have been historically underrepresented or overlooked.
We publish two issues per year and feature 40 - 50 poets per issue.
We nominate select works for The Pushcart Prize, Best New Poets, Best of the Net, and Best Spiritual Literature. Poetry that has appeared in Shō has been chosen for inclusion in Best Spiritual Literature and Verse Daily.
Our reading periods are December 1 to March 1 and June 1 to August 31. Our average response time is 2 weeks, and we respond to all submissions within 30 days.
All work accepted for publication will be considered for the Shō Poetry Prize (best poem in issue) and the Sita Martin Prize (best poem by an emerging poet). Each winner receives $150 and a one-year subscription to Shō.
Shō Poetry Journal, an Arizona-based nonprofit print journal, seeks striking cover art for Shō No. 8 (for release in January 2026). The selected artwork will be featured on the cover of our winter issue, on our social media platforms, and will be used for promotional purposes.
Payment is one contributor copy and a small honorarium. Due to the high costs of international shipping, artists based outside the U.S. may either receive a PDF copy of the journal or a print copy in place of the honorarium.
Responses will be sent by the end of October 2025.
Full guidelines
- Submit up to eight original high-resolution images (as individual images). We will consider one submission per artist.
- We are interested in a variety of mediums, but have a strong preference for painting and illustration in full color. We will also consider photography, graphic design, and mixed media. We are open to all styles.
Please include the following information in your cover letter:
- The title(s) of your work, medium, year completed.
- A short third-person biographical statement (approx. 50 words) and links to your portfolio or any social media platforms you use to promote your work.
- An artist’s statement (optional).
- If the artwork you are submitting has appeared online or in a gallery, please include a link. If it is previously unpublished (including blogs and social media), please mention this. Please do not include artwork that has previously appeared in print.
Image requirements
- File format: jpg, png, or tiff
- Resolution: 300 dpi
- Image size: At least 1875 x 2775 pixels. We will consider landscape-oriented images if they can wrap around the front and back of the journal, with enough negative space on the back to list contributor names.
- Art must not have been created or manipulated using AI.
Here are some of our recent covers:
You can see them in detail here.
Pictured above:
– Cover art for Shō No. 7 & Shō No. 6 by Tanya Rastogi;
– Cover art for Shō No. 5 & Shō No. 4 by Harim Choi.