Persimmon Tree :: NewPages Guide to Literary Magazines

Persimmon Tree

An Online Magazine of the Arts by Women over Sixty

Publisher's Description: Founded in 2007 by former Tikkun Magazine publisher Nan Gefen, Persimmon Tree: An Online Magazine of the Arts by Women Over Sixty serves up a lively mix of stories, articles, art, and poetry by emerging and established women writers and artists. Readers of all ages regularly find their way to the site, where one can troll the Archives for “The Writing Life,” a sparkling conversation between novelists E.M. Broner and Mary Gordon; read Grace Paley’s poetry, as well as the work of Maxine Kumin, Lucille Clifton, and Ruth Stone; admire Faith Ringgold’s painted story quilts, Mayumi Oda’s silk-screens, and Joan Snyder’s paintings; dip into theatrical scripts by Naomi Newman and Martha Boesing; and savor fiction by Marilyn French, Jane Lazarre, Charlotte Painter, and many others.

Persimmon Tree, which is associated with Mills College, is committed to showcasing the talent and creativity of older women. It crumbles stereotypes with its range of subject matter—including a story about tattooing and a stuntwoman’s adventure—and it also imaginatively investigates the experience of aging. Writers explore the landscape of middle and old age with uncompromising courage and high literary standards. As Florida Scott Maxwell says, “We find that as we age, we are more alive than seems likely, convenient, or even bearable. Too often our problem is the fervor of life within us.” Persimmon Tree authors and artists celebrate this heightened life.