Persimmon Tree, an online magazine, is a showcase for the creativity and talent of women over sixty. 

Too often older women’s artistic work is ignored or disregarded, and only those few who are already established receive the attention they deserve. 

Short Takes

women poets who are 60 or over and live in the geographical region we are featuring in a particular issue 

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Persimmon Tree: An Online Magazine of the Arts by Women Over Sixty

General call

When did you first realize you wanted to become a writer, a painter, a composer, a weaver—a creator of any kind of art? You don’t have to be a professional writer, artist, or craftsperson to feel the urge to create. That spark hits people at various points in their lives. Were you inspired as a child, a student, on a break from work, or when retirement gave you more time? By your parents, a teacher, a spouse, a mentor, a child, a friend? Did a particular moment move you or was it the accumulation of feelings, ideas, images, or sounds over the years that suddenly called you to put pen to paper or brush to canvas? And how did you feel in the moments when you first expressed those ideas? Did you face setbacks? How did you overcome them? How do you live a creative life and still take part in the everyday world and how does your art make life meaningful?

Short Takes - Fall 2026

Poetry
Persimmon Tree invites older women poets to submit their previously unpublished poems twice each year. In order to keep the number of entries at a manageable level, submissions are solicited on a regional basis.
 
The window opens April 9 for the submission to Persimmon Tree of poetry by women over 60 living in the western United States (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming). It will remain open only until May 1. We regret that poetry submitted after May 1 cannot be considered.
 
You may submit up to three previously unpublished poems. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please inform us immediately if any poems in your submission are accepted elsewhere.
 
Submit your poems all together in a single Word document, single-spaced (double-spaced if that is how you wish the poem to appear), in 12-point type. Please be sure your name is at the top of each page of the document.
  
Email the document as an attachment to poetry@persimmontree.org. The subject line of the email should read “Poetry Submission Summer 2026.” Include in the email your name, street address, email address, and phone number, as well as a headshot and a short bio (no more than 50 words). 
 
We regret that the volume of entries may make it impossible for us to acknowledge receipt of your poems.
 
The regional rotation for future issues will be as follows:
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)Summer 2028: West (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming)


You must be subscribed to submit; click here to subscribe. Submissions and subscriptions are free.

women over 60 living in the western United States (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming). It will remain open only until May 1.

Persimmon Tree: An Online Magazine of the Arts by Women Over Sixty

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