Shō Poetry Journal is a biannual small-press print journal coming out of a 20-year hibernation. We publish a diverse range of voices and the best poetry that crosses our path.
Highlights
- Vibe:Send us your best but less intimidating
- Response time: 30 days after submission*/Editor reported data15 days*Chill Subs tracker stats
- Acceptance rate: 7%*/Editor reported data6.52%*Chill Subs tracker stats
Publication
Accepts simultaneous submissions
What's that?
When you can submit your work to multiple magazines at the same time
Accepts previously published
What's that?
When the magazine wants to publish your previously published work. Requirements vary
Nominates for prizes
From the editors
Pushcart
Active on social media
Available in print
Provides contributor copies
Has examples online
Offers expedited response
Runs themed calls
How to submit
Processs
Submittable
Cover letter
Your cover letter should include the titles you are submitting and a third-person bio (60 words or less). If your poem is ‘after’ another poet, please name the poem it’s after, or provide any relevant details in your cover letter. Simultaneous submissions are fine as long as you specify this in your cover letter and send us a message through Submittable if your work is accepted elsewhere.
Eligibility
No specific eligibility requirements
Formatting
• Poems should be single-spaced and formatted in a standard 12-point font. Begin each poem on a new page. • Please include page numbers and your name on every page. • If a poem is longer than one page, please indicate if the second or successive page begins with a new stanza. Name your file as follows: FirstName_LastName
Author's rights
Shō Poetry Journal requests first serial rights, as well as the right to republish accepted works on our website and/or to use excerpts in our social media feeds. Work may be submitted to venues such as Verse Daily following publication. Rights revert to the author upon publication; however, please credit Shō Poetry Journal with first publication if the work is republished elsewhere. Shō Poetry Journal honors the request of authors who ask that their work not appear online.
Additional info
Payment is one contributor’s copy. Authors also receive a discount on the purchase of extra copies. 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. We especially encourage submissions from historically underrepresented poets. We nominate select works for The Pushcart Prize, Best New Poets, and Best Spiritual Literature. We mail a copy of each issue to outlets such as Verse Daily. You are welcome to submit work more than once in a given reading period, but please do not submit additional work until you’ve heard back from us regarding a previous submission. We recommend submitting a minimum of three poems (max five) — you never know what will land with us, and we often publish multiple poems by a single poet.
Tracker statistics
63
Total submissions tracked
15 days
Average response time
Average acceptance rate
1 days
Fastest response time
80 days
Slowest response time
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