Johnny Cordova
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johnnycordova.bsky.social
Johnny Cordova
@johnnycordova.bsky.social
Poet and co-editor of @shopoetryjournal.bsky.social

Poems in Atlanta Review, Chicago Quarterly Review, Louisiana Literature, New York Quarterly, Salt Hill Journal, and elsewhere.

Johnnycordova.com
Pinned
For those who don’t know me:

I dropped out of the literary scene for 17 years but managed to keep my soul intact. Now I’m back.

I co-edit Shō Poetry Journal with my wife, Dominique Ahkong.

@shopoetryjournal.bsky.social
@domkeykong.bsky.social
Reposted by Johnny Cordova
We’d like to get issues of Shō Poetry Journal into more hands! From now until November 30, we're offering our five most recent issues at $8 each (33% off). Orders $24 and above ship free.

No code needed: shopoetryjournal.com/shop

Pictured: Shō No. 6 (Winter 2024/25); cover art by Tanya Rastogi.
November 10, 2025 at 6:47 PM
The poets who complain about form rejections are the same poets who complain about feedback from editors?
October 17, 2025 at 5:37 PM
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Be sure to listen to @shopoetryjournal.bsky.social’s #NationalHispanicHeritageMonth playlist!

It features eleven poets recently published in the journal, including Jenna Martínez, Nina C. Peláez, Alejandro Lucero, Nathan Xavier Osorio, and more: shopoetryjournal.com/hispanic-her...
Hispanic Heritage Month Playlist 2025 - Shō Poetry Journal
To celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, we've curated this selection of poems by US-based Shō Poetry Journal contributors. This playlist features audio recordings by Jenna Martínez, Asheley…
shopoetryjournal.com
October 2, 2025 at 7:30 PM
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We are seeking cover art for our winter issue!

Send us up to 8 pieces to consider. It’s free to submit. Payment is one contributor copy and a small honorarium.

Full details: tinyurl.com/shocoverart
September 11, 2025 at 12:27 PM
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LAST CALL!!!

Subs close at the top of the hour.
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.
September 1, 2025 at 6:12 AM
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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.
August 31, 2025 at 9:37 AM
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This weekend is the last chance to get your work in.
Submissions close Sunday at midnight (PT).

Submit: shopoetryjournal.submittable.com
Submissions close in 6 days! We're looking for more work to fill our pages for Shō No. 8 (Winter 2025/26).

Submit: shopoetryjournal.submittable.com
August 30, 2025 at 12:29 PM
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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.

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.
August 28, 2025 at 12:31 PM
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Submissions close in 6 days! We're looking for more work to fill our pages for Shō No. 8 (Winter 2025/26).

Submit: shopoetryjournal.submittable.com
August 26, 2025 at 1:45 PM
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Sometimes I catch myself parenting in the shadow of the Khmer Rouge.

Thanks to @shopoetryjournal.bsky.social and its editors for publishing this poem.

Happy Sunday, All!
August 24, 2025 at 12:33 PM
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If you're sending out work this weekend, please keep us in mind.
We’ve entered the final month of our reading period for Shō No.8. Send us poems!

• Payment is one contributor copy

• We award prize money for best poem in issue and best poem by an emerging poet

• We nominate for Best New Poets, Best Spiritual Lit, and the Pushcart Prize
August 23, 2025 at 12:28 PM
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Status Update: We've accepted 38 poems by 26 poets for our winter issue and are looking for more work! Each issue of Shō typically features 40-50 poets.

• Send 3-5 unpublished poems
• Submissions close August 31
• We respond to all submissions in 30 days or less

shopoetryjournal.submittable.com
August 18, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Reposted by Johnny Cordova
We’ve entered the final month of our reading period for Shō No.8. Send us poems!

• Payment is one contributor copy

• We award prize money for best poem in issue and best poem by an emerging poet

• We nominate for Best New Poets, Best Spiritual Lit, and the Pushcart Prize
August 2, 2025 at 9:39 PM
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We are reading submissions for our winter issue. If you love holding a volume of poetry in your hands and like the work we've published, check us out! Submit 3-5 unpublished poems, no theme.

shopoetryjournal.submittable.com

Cover art: Close-up from "Interim" by Tanya Rastogi.
July 26, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Honored to have two poems chosen by @bunkong.bsky.social for Cultural Daily.

“The Young Man on the Train” was written during a 26-day pilgrimage through India in 2014.

“The Mountain and the Monk” is a persona poem.

www.culturaldaily.com/johnny-cordo...
Johnny Cordova: Two Poems - Cultural Daily
Two poems by Johnny Cordova: "This mountain has gotten inside me. / I hear it rumbling through my hollow bones. / It rises in me like a dark sun..."
www.culturaldaily.com
July 20, 2025 at 1:49 PM
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If you're sending out work this weekend, please keep us in mind.

• Payment is one contributor copy

• We nominate for Best New Poets, Best Spiritual Lit, and the Pushcart Prize

• We award prize money for best poem in issue and best poem by an emerging poet
July 19, 2025 at 4:22 PM
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Submissions to Shō Poetry Journal are always free for Native American and Indigenous Canadian poets. Details: shopoetryjournal.submittable.com

Cover Art from "In Gilded Walls" by Tanya Rastogi, Shō No. 6 (Winter 2024/25)
July 17, 2025 at 2:53 AM
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The new issue of @shopoetryjournal.bsky.social is gorgeous & I’m grateful to have two poems in it. Here’s one:
July 5, 2025 at 12:41 PM
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Many thanks to @domkeykong.bsky.social and @johnnycordova.bsky.social for including my poems “From the Great Depression” and “Summer Evening” in the latest issue of @shopoetryjournal.bsky.social! It’s a beautiful issue. #poetry #poems #poets #poetrycommunity #poetrylovers #poetryreaders
July 4, 2025 at 1:16 PM
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It’s been two years since we released our revival issue, and we’re excited to share our summer issue, which features 67 poems by 48 poets!

Now shipping: shopoetryjournal.com/product/sho-...
July 1, 2025 at 5:15 PM
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New poem online! “somehow” by Ohia, Ernest Chigaemezu appears in Shō Poetry Journal's Summer 2025 issue and was selected by the editors as the Winner of the Sita Martin Prize.

Read the poem (with audio read by the poet’s friend, Aidan Miles-Jamison) at shopoetryjournal.com/ernest-ohia/
June 30, 2025 at 6:11 PM
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Take a peek at our summer issue! Read "Nocturne" by Christian J. Collier, a poem selected by the editors as the Winner of the Shō Poetry Prize.

shopoetryjournal.com/christian-j-...
June 29, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Reposted by Johnny Cordova
If you're sending out work this weekend, please keep us in mind.

• Payment is one contributor copy

• We nominate for Best New Poets, Best Spiritual Lit, and the Pushcart Prize

• We award prize money for best poem in issue and best poem by an emerging poet
June 29, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Johnny Cordova
New poem online! “Symptoms of Ghosts” by Aldo Amparán (@skygoneout.bsky.social) is forthcoming in our summer issue, Shō No. 7, and was selected by the editors as the runner-up for the Shō Poetry Prize.

Read the poem (with audio by the poet) here: shopoetryjournal.com/aldo-amparan/
June 27, 2025 at 9:21 PM
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Here we go! Almost a third of the way into our reading period. Excited to read what comes our way!
June 26, 2025 at 7:16 PM