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 scroll down to the appropriate header for instructions for submitting Fiction and Nonfiction – Short Takes – Poetry – Art and Illustrations – and Forum Comments.
Please read and follow the instructions for the kind of work you are submitting. We cannot accept any submission that does not follow the guidelines exactly.
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.
© 2023 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We welcome previously unpublished pieces under 3,500 words, written by women over sixty.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.
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 the guidelines as to what should be sent, when it should be sent, and to whom it should be sent.
Topic for the winter issue: What I Like/What I Dislike
Susan Sontag compiled these lists of her likes and dislikes:
Things I dislike: sleeping in an apartment alone, cold weather, couples, football games, swimming, anchovies, mustaches, cats, umbrellas, being photographed, the taste of licorice, washing my hair (or having it washed), wearing a wristwatch, giving a lecture, cigars, writing letters, taking showers, Robert Frost, German food.
Submissions accepted: November 10, 2023, to November 20, 2023
(Please do not submit earlier or later than those dates.)
Submissions should be in a Word document; be sure your name, address, and email address are in the document. Email it to publisher@persimmontree.org. The subject line the email should read “Short Takes.”
Include a headshot and short (no more than 50 words) bio in the email.
You must be subscribed to submit; click here to subscribe. Submissions and subscriptions are free.
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.
Topic for the spring issue: EROTICA
A woman is never too old to enjoy it. Or to enjoy reading, writing, or making art about it. Send us your erotica – your musings on erotica – your memories of erotic moments – actual or imagined.
Submissions accepted: February 10, 2024, to February 20, 2024
(Please do not submit earlier or later than those dates.)
Submissions should be in a Word document; be sure your name, address, and email address are in the document. Email it to publisher@persimmontree.org. The subject line the email should read “Short Takes.”
Include a headshot and short (no more than 50 words) bio in the email.
You must be subscribed to submit; click here to subscribe. Submissions and subscriptions are free.
Poetry
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.
Persimmon Tree accepts submissions of poetry only for the Summer and Winter issues. The submissions mailbox, poetry@persimmontree.org, will be open to receive mail only during the submission periods for these issues. The submission period for the Winter 2023-2024 issue does not open until October 3.
Women poets who are 60 or over and live in the geographical region we are featuring in a particular issue are welcome to submit.
You must be subscribed to submit; click here to subscribe. Submissions and subscriptions are free.
You may submit up to three poems, all of which must be unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please inform us immediately if any poems in your submission are accepted elsewhere.
Submissions should be in a Word document, double-spaced, in 12-point type, with numbered pages. Enter your name, address, telephone number, and email address at the top of the first page of the document.
Email your submission as an attachment to poetry@persimmontree.org. The subject line of the email should read “Poetry Submission.” Include a headshot and a short (no more than 50 words) bio in the email. We regret that the volume of entries may make it impossible for us to acknowledge receipt of your email.
The regional rotation is as follows:
- East (the coastal states from Maine to Florida, and also Mississippi, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Alabama),
- West (the coastal states, and Alaska, Hawaii, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico),
- Central (the Midwest, the Great Plains, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri), and
- International (for poets living outside the US or in a US Territory).
Our poetry editor, Cynthia Hogue, appoints Guest Editors for these issues. The Guest Editor is announced when the submission period opens (the window for submissions is usually one month).
Winter Issue – publication date: December 15, 2023
Region: East
Guest judge: TBA
Submissions accepted: October 3, 2023, to November 3, 2023
(Please do not submit earlier or later than those dates.)
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 no more than five samples of your work (in jpg format), a headshot and a short biographical statement (less than 50 words) for us to put on file. Submissions should be addressed to publisher@persimmontree.org and may be sent any time during the year.
You must be subscribed to submit; click here to subscribe. Submissions and subscriptions are free.
Forum
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.
Persimmon Tree invites brief (no more than 200 words) comments from our readers on important topics of the moment. The topic for the winter issue will be posted in late November or early December. Check back then.
You must be subscribed to submit; click here to subscribe. Submissions and subscriptions are free.
Bio
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, the Best Indie Lit New England anthology, and the Voices from the Fierce Intangible World anthology. Her book, Cement Shoes, won the 2013 Sinclair Poetry Prize, and was published in 2014 by Evening Street Press. In addition to being a writer, she is also an amateur photographer. She currently serves as Co-Director for the Performance Poets of the Palm Beaches, as Senior Poetry Editor & Reading Series Producer for the South Florida Poetry Journal, and she teaches at Palm Beach State College.