We Welcome Your Submission
Persimmon Tree’s mission is to bring the creativity and talent of women over sixty to a wide audience of readers of all ages. We are looking for work that reveals rich experience and a variety of perspectives. Each issue of the magazine will include several fiction and nonfiction pieces, poetry by one or more poets, and the work of one or more visual artists. The magazine is published quarterly.
Please click on the appropriate header here to read the instructions for submitting Fiction and Nonfiction – Short Takes – Poetry – Art and Illustrations – and Forum Comments.
Persimmon Tree sends a promotional email to its subscribers approximately once a week. By publishing in Persimmon Tree you agree that your work may also appear in Persimmon Tree emails.
© 2025 Persimmon Tree Inc. Persimmon Tree Inc. reserves all rights to everything published in www.persimmontree.org. We support our contributors who succeed in being published elsewhere, and hereby give permission to any contributor to reprint her work in another venue, provided that the reprint, whether on the internet or in hard copy, includes an acknowledgement that the work was originally published in Persimmon Tree.
Please click on the appropriate header here to read the instructions for submitting Fiction and Nonfiction – Short Takes – Poetry – Art and Illustrations – and Forum Comments.
Persimmon Tree sends a promotional email to its subscribers approximately once a week. By publishing in Persimmon Tree you agree that your work may also appear in Persimmon Tree emails.
© 2025 Persimmon Tree Inc. Persimmon Tree Inc. reserves all rights to everything published in www.persimmontree.org. We support our contributors who succeed in being published elsewhere, and hereby give permission to any contributor to reprint her work in another venue, provided that the reprint, whether on the internet or in hard copy, includes an acknowledgement that the work was originally published in Persimmon Tree.
IMPORTANT SUBMISSIONS REQUIREMENT:
For your work to be considered by Persimmon Tree, you must be a subscriber. Subscriptions are free. Sign up for your subscription here.
Fiction and Nonfiction
Please read and follow these instructions carefully. We regret that we cannot accept any submission that does not follow the guidelines as to what should be sent, when it should be sent, and to whom it should be sent.
We welcome previously unpublished pieces under 3,500 words, written by women over sixty. Submissions may be sent to us any time during the year. Multiple submissions are accepted. If you want to send more than one piece, put them in separate emails.
Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please inform us immediately if any item in your submission is accepted elsewhere.
You must be subscribed to submit; click here to subscribe. Submissions and subscriptions are free.
Submissions should be in Word, double-spaced, with 12-point type and numbered pages. At the top of the first page please enter author’s name, address, telephone number, and email address.
Please send your submission as an attachment to us at: editor@persimmontree.org. Type the title of the piece, labeled fiction or nonfiction, in the subject line. Include a brief biographical statement (less than 50 words) and a headshot in your email.
We welcome previously unpublished pieces under 3,500 words, written by women over sixty. Submissions may be sent to us any time during the year. Multiple submissions are accepted. If you want to send more than one piece, put them in separate emails.
Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please inform us immediately if any item in your submission is accepted elsewhere.
You must be subscribed to submit; click here to subscribe. Submissions and subscriptions are free.
Submissions should be in Word, double-spaced, with 12-point type and numbered pages. At the top of the first page please enter author’s name, address, telephone number, and email address.
Please send your submission as an attachment to us at: editor@persimmontree.org. Type the title of the piece, labeled fiction or nonfiction, in the subject line. Include a brief biographical statement (less than 50 words) and a headshot in your email.
Short Takes
Short Takes are usually short prose pieces, fiction or non-fiction (250-500 words), but can also be topical poetry, sometimes even drawings or photography. We’re especially interested in hearing about your experiences, but you can include your thoughts, dreams, ideas and opinions. Humor and irony are always appreciated!
Please read and follow these instructions carefully. We regret that we cannot accept any submission that does not follow these guidelines. In particular, make sure that the address on your email is correct.
Please read and follow these instructions carefully. We regret that we cannot accept any submission that does not follow these guidelines. In particular, make sure that the address on your email is correct.
Issue #77–Winter 2025/2026–Friendship and Other Gifts
This is the season of giving–and receiving. What’s on your wish list–for yourself, for those you love? What is the greatest, or most memorable, or best, or worst gift you have ever been given–or that you ever gave? The gift you’ll write about may be a thing you tie up with a bow; or it could be an intangible: Being a good friend is a gift, as is knowing how to be. Gifts can be two-edged swords: In Old Norse and in some modern Scandinavian languages as well, the word that corresponds to “gift” in English, “gjöf” (pronounced “gyuv”), can, depending on the context, also mean “potion” or “poison.” You may wish to write about the magic potion you once received–or the poison. Finally, gifts often come with strings attached. In many cultures around the globe, a gift creates for its recipient the burden of reciprocity; she must return the favor, sometimes two-fold or more. When has someone given you a something that turned out to be as much obligation as gift?
Projected publication date: Wednesday, December 17, 2025
Submissions will be accepted: November 17 to November 21
(Please do not submit earlier or later than those dates.)
Your submission must be under 500 words. Submit it to us as a Word document; be sure your name, address, phone number, and email address are all in the Word document. Send us the document by an email addressed to shorttakes@persimmontree.org, and type “Short Take” in the subject line of the email.
Include a headshot and short bio (no more than 50 words) in the email.
You must be subscribed to submit; click here to subscribe. Submissions and subscriptions are free.
Projected publication date: Wednesday, December 17, 2025
Submissions will be accepted: November 17 to November 21
(Please do not submit earlier or later than those dates.)
Your submission must be under 500 words. Submit it to us as a Word document; be sure your name, address, phone number, and email address are all in the Word document. Send us the document by an email addressed to shorttakes@persimmontree.org, and type “Short Take” in the subject line of the email.
Include a headshot and short bio (no more than 50 words) in the email.
You must be subscribed to submit; click here to subscribe. Submissions and subscriptions are free.
Issue #78–Spring 2026-The Cultures of Childhood
If you are old enough to write for this magazine, then you were a child at least 50 years ago–in a world that embraced very different cultural norms and expectations, values and beliefs, than those today. Write about your memories of that time: who were you then? what do you recall doing and thinking and saying? Write, too, about the ways in which everything and everyone around you then influenced your perception of yourself and your notions of what it means to be a woman, a mother, a worker, a person. What did it feel like to be 10 or 12 then – and do you ever feel like that now?
Publication date: To be announced
Submissions will be accepted: To be announced
(Please do not submit earlier or later than those dates.)
Your submission must be under 500 words. Submit it to us as a Word document; be sure your name, address, phone number, and email address are all in the Word document. Send us the document by an email addressed to shorttakes@persimmontree.org, and type “Short Take” in the subject line of the email.
Include a headshot and short bio (no more than 50 words) in the email.
You must be subscribed to submit; click here to subscribe. Submissions and subscriptions are free.
Publication date: To be announced
Submissions will be accepted: To be announced
(Please do not submit earlier or later than those dates.)
Your submission must be under 500 words. Submit it to us as a Word document; be sure your name, address, phone number, and email address are all in the Word document. Send us the document by an email addressed to shorttakes@persimmontree.org, and type “Short Take” in the subject line of the email.
Include a headshot and short bio (no more than 50 words) in the email.
You must be subscribed to submit; click here to subscribe. Submissions and subscriptions are free.
Issue #79–Summer 2026–Mending the Breach–or Not
There are so many ways in which relationships–friendships, marriages, partnerships, loves, families–fall apart. Time itself can do it, or distance. We’ve all had arguments that left us not wanting to be the first to call or text, and sometimes those rifts have lasted for decades. The political divisions of the past few years have also created gulfs we either can’t or prefer not to cross. Write about one such severed relationship. It can be current or far in the past. You can write about why you don’t want to repair it–or why you’d like to but can’t–or, in the best of all possible worlds, how the relationship has been repaired. Try not to be judgmental–of yourself or anyone else.
Publication date: To be announced
Submissions will be accepted: To be announced
(Please do not submit earlier or later than those dates.)
Your submission must be under 500 words. Submit it to us as a Word document; be sure your name, address, phone number, and email address are all in the Word document. Send us the document by an email addressed to shorttakes@persimmontree.org, and type “Short Take” in the subject line of the email.
Include a headshot and short bio (no more than 50 words) in the email.
You must be subscribed to submit; click here to subscribe. Submissions and subscriptions are free.
Publication date: To be announced
Submissions will be accepted: To be announced
(Please do not submit earlier or later than those dates.)
Your submission must be under 500 words. Submit it to us as a Word document; be sure your name, address, phone number, and email address are all in the Word document. Send us the document by an email addressed to shorttakes@persimmontree.org, and type “Short Take” in the subject line of the email.
Include a headshot and short bio (no more than 50 words) in the email.
You must be subscribed to submit; click here to subscribe. Submissions and subscriptions are free.
Poetry
The Winter 2025-2026 issue of Persimmon Tree will feature poetry by older women poets who are currently residing in the eastern United States (that is, in the coastal states from Maine to Florida, and also Alabama, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia).
Please read and follow these instructions carefully. We regret that we cannot accept any submission that does not follow the guidelines as to what should be sent, when it should be sent, and to whom it should be sent.
You may submit up to three poems. None may have been published elsewhere. We permit multiple submissions, but be sure to let us know if any of the poems you submit is accepted by another publication.
The submissions window for the upcoming issue will be from October 15 to November 8. Please do not submit earlier or later than those dates. Selections will be made by this issue’s guest poetry editors, Katherine Soniat and Gyorgyi Voros.
Submit your poetry in a Word document; be sure your name, address, phone number, and email address are all in the Word document. Send the document as an email attachment, addressed to poetry@persimmontree.org. Also include a headshot and a short bio (no more than 50 words) in the email. You must be subscribed to submit; click here to subscribe. Submissions and subscriptions are free.
The regional rotation for issues after Winter 2025/26 will be as follows:
- Summer 2026: West (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming)
- Winter 2026/2027: Central (the Midwest, the Great Plains, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Tennessee)
- Summer 2027: International (for poets living outside the US or in a US Territory)
- Winter 2027/2028: East (the coastal states from Maine to Florida, and also Alabama, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia)
Art and Illustrations
Please read and follow these instructions carefully. We regret that we cannot accept any submission that does not follow the guidelines as to what should be sent, when it should be sent, and to whom it should be sent.
Although the artists who are featured on our dedicated art page are chosen by our art editor, we welcome submissions of work in all media for display and illustration throughout the rest of the magazine. You are invited to send up to five samples of your work (in jpg format, 72 dpi) by email addressed to publisher@persimmontree.org. Include in the email, the title and medium of each work, a headshot, your name, postal address, phone number, email address, and a short biographical statement (less than 50 words). Submissions may be sent at any time during the year.
You must be subscribed to submit; click here to subscribe. Submissions and subscriptions are free.
Although the artists who are featured on our dedicated art page are chosen by our art editor, we welcome submissions of work in all media for display and illustration throughout the rest of the magazine. You are invited to send up to five samples of your work (in jpg format, 72 dpi) by email addressed to publisher@persimmontree.org. Include in the email, the title and medium of each work, a headshot, your name, postal address, phone number, email address, and a short biographical statement (less than 50 words). Submissions may be sent at any time during the year.
You must be subscribed to submit; click here to subscribe. Submissions and subscriptions are free.
Forum
Readers will be asked to contribute to each issue of the magazine their views on questions of moment to the Persimmon Tree community of older women writers and artists. Please do not submit anything at this time. We will let you know when the submissions window opens for the next issue, and what the topic will be.
"An intense, addictive drama with a hint of light at the end of the tunnel." — Kirkus Reviews
It is the Civil War, Susannah Shelburne, age 36, is living in South Carolina. Although she and her husband oppose the Southern cause, their only child Francis is a Confederate soldier. When Francis is wounded in Tennessee, Susannah leaves home to find him. Under her care his condition improves, but he soon becomes a prisoner of war, and Susannah strikes a wrenching personal bargain in exchange for his parole. Soon, though, news from South Carolina makes it clear that returning home is impossible, and Francis’s worsening mental state necessitates a high-stakes escape plan.
There is a wildness hidden beneath Susannah’s demure façade, leading her into unconventional, courageous decisions that put her at odds with her husband, her son and her community. Adversity also brings her more fully into the realities of the people of color in her life.
Measure of Devotion’s themes—political differences among families and communities, the urgent need for transracial understanding, a woman’s existential search for control of her own life—are the persistent issues of our national consciousness.
“Measure of Devotion is a debut novel that is bound to enter the canon of classic Civil War literature. That it's told from a woman’s viewpoint makes it unique.” — Hungry for Good Books
Available from 
Judy Ireland’s poems have appeared in Hotel Amerika, Calyx, Saranac Review, Eclipse, Cold Mountain, Coe Review, and other journals, as well as in two anthologies, Best Indie Lit New England and Voices from the Fierce Intangible World. Her bookCement Shoes (Evening Street, 2014) won the 2013 Sinclair Poetry Prize. She is also an amateur photographer. She is Co-Director for the Performance Poets of the Palm Beaches, Senior Poetry Editor for the South Florida Poetry Journal, and a teacher at Palm Beach State College.