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.
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© 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:
We welcome previously unpublished pieces under 3,500 words, written by women over sixty.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.
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.
Art and Illustrations:
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. Please do not expect a response from us unless we plan to use your work.
Poetry:
Persimmon Tree accepts submissions of poetry for the Summer and Winter issues. All 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 should be previously unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please inform us immediately if any poems in your submission are accepted elsewhere. To submit, email to poetry@persimmontree.org your poems and your contact information (name, address, and email address) in a Word document. 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).
The submissions period for the summer issue, which will feature the work of international poets, has closed. Guest Editor Pit Pinegar is making her selections.
Winter Issue – publication date: December 15, 2023
Competition: Eastern States
Eligibility: Poets who are women over 60, currently living in the eastern United States.
Guest judge: TBA
Submissions accepted: October 3, 2023, to November 3, 2023
(Please do not submit earlier or later than those dates.)
Short Takes:
Short Takes are usually short 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!
Topic for the Summer issue: Verbal Lightning
Lightning is the perfect theme for summer, with its hot days and nights, and the thunder storms that may or may not bring cooler air, but will almost certainly bring lightning. But we’re talking about metaphorical lightning as well – as in “lightning struck and I was changed forever” – or “the words my father said (“You can be anything you want to be”) hit me like lightning and affected my entire life”. Think about – write about – how words affect the receivers of the lightning – but also how they affects the givers.
Submissions accepted until May 19, 2023.
(Please do not submit earlier or later than those dates.)
Topic for the fall issue: Shameless Self-Promotion
Women of the “boomer” generation and before were, by and large, raised to be self-effacing, not to trumpet our accomplishments. In fact, many of us came of age believing it would be unseemly for us even to have accomplishments. It’s time to step outside that (dis)comfort zone: Short Takes is open for bragging. Of all the fabulous things you have done in your life, until now cloaked in demure silence, what makes you proudest? Share it, or them, with pride, and without embarrassment.
Submissions accepted: August 10, 2023, to August 20, 2023
(Please do not submit earlier or later than those dates.)
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.)
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. We regret that the volume of short takes entries may make it impossible for us to acknowledge receipt of your email.
Forum:
Persimmon Tree invites brief (no more than 200 words) comments from our readers on important topics of the moment. The topic for the summer issue will be posted here. Do check back.