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.
© 2024 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.
© 2024 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We welcome previously unpublished pieces under 3,500 words, written by women over sixty.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.
Legacy (Issue #74, Spring 2025)
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.
Legacy (Issue #74, Spring 2025)
What we are looking for:
What legacy will you leave for those who come after? What legacies have been left for you? You can write about things – or ideas – or even the state of the planet. We’ll be looking for originality and artfulness in this one.
Publication date: March 12, 2025
Submissions accepted: February 12 to February 16
(Please do not submit earlier or later than those dates.)
Your submission must be under 500 words. Email it to us in a Word document; be sure your name, address, and email address are in the Word document and that the subject line of the email is “Short Takes.” Address it to publisher@persimmontree.org.
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.
What legacy will you leave for those who come after? What legacies have been left for you? You can write about things – or ideas – or even the state of the planet. We’ll be looking for originality and artfulness in this one.
Publication date: March 12, 2025
Submissions accepted: February 12 to February 16
(Please do not submit earlier or later than those dates.)
Your submission must be under 500 words. Email it to us in a Word document; be sure your name, address, and email address are in the Word document and that the subject line of the email is “Short Takes.” Address it to publisher@persimmontree.org.
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
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. Women poets who are 60 or over and live in the geographical region we are featuring in a particular issue are welcome to submit. We will next accept poetry for the Summer 2025 issue. Poets then residing outside the United States may submit.
You must be subscribed to submit; click here to subscribe.
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, single-spaced preferred (double-spaced if that is how you wish the poem to appear), in 12-point type. Please include your name, address, and email address as Header at the top of each page of the document.
Email your submission as an attachment to poetry@persimmontree.org. The subject line of the email should read “Poetry Submission Winter 2024.” 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.
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 regional rotation is as follows:
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. Women poets who are 60 or over and live in the geographical region we are featuring in a particular issue are welcome to submit. We will next accept poetry for the Summer 2025 issue. Poets then residing outside the United States may submit.
You must be subscribed to submit; click here to subscribe.
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, single-spaced preferred (double-spaced if that is how you wish the poem to appear), in 12-point type. Please include your name, address, and email address as Header at the top of each page of the document.
Email your submission as an attachment to poetry@persimmontree.org. The subject line of the email should read “Poetry Submission Winter 2024.” 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.
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 regional rotation is as follows:
- Winter 2024/2025: Central (the Midwest, the Great Plains, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri),
- Summer 2025: International (for poets living outside the US or in a US Territory),
- Winter 2026: East (the coastal states from Maine to Florida, and also Mississippi, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Alabama),
- Summer 2026: West (the coastal states, and Alaska, Hawaii, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico).
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, 72 dpi), the title and medium of each work, 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.
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, 72 dpi), the title and medium of each work, 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.
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.
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.
Journey to Everland Bay
by Lynne Shaner
Jemma Avalon is an unconventional mage-in-training, longing to return to Everland Bay, her ancestral homeland, and find a way to join the renowned magical research institute there, like the women in her family before her.
Daughter of a gentle part elf-fae mother and a father with fiery dragon blood, an unusual combination even in the magical world, ten years after her mother's sudden death, she is working at a major museum in DC, where magic is all but outlawed. Her father wants her to assimilate and live without magic, but Jemma is determined to fully embrace her heritage.
When an ordinary day at the museum takes an extraordinary turn, Jemma is rocketed to an Everland Bay Institute under violent siege, where dark-arts mages threaten everything important to her. She joins forces with her companions, working feverishly to save Everland Bay from crumbling under enemy attack. In so doing, she finds a path to her own strength and mastery, and her heart’s true home
A Heroine’s Journey tale for our times.
“A beautifully engaging fantasy teeming with dragons, fae, magic, and the importance of family and friendship. A joy to read from beginning to end.”
— Julie Boglisch, The Elifer Chronicles
Available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.
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.