The judge of the 2025 Best in Rural Writing Contest, Jamie Guiney, just completed the challenging task of choosing 10 shortlisted entries. All submissions were read blind.
This year’s contest received 113 short stories and essays, representing incredible talent. Thoughtful, innovative and endearing prose came from all over the world to help support the rural voice. For that, those of us at The Milk House are grateful.
The shortlisted entries will be published on The Milk House throughout 2026.
Here’s the 2025 Best in Rural Writing shortlist, in no particular order.
Nonfiction
“God, Guns and Baseball” by Lena Newlin
Lena (Sunada-Matsumura) Newlin is a fourth-generation Wyomingite and a fourth-generation Japanese American. She has an MFA in Creative Writing, a Masters in Public Health, and is pursuing a PhD in Public Humanities at the University of Wyoming in the US. Her writing has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and has appeared in the New York Times, Solstice Literary Magazine, High Desert Journal, Like the Wind Magazine, and others. Visit her at www.lenanewlin.com and on Instagram @tsuru.newlin.
“Wild Strawberries” by William Gary Cole
William Gary Cole is a poet, author, and lifelong educator. Raised on a farm among the mountains of Tellico Plains, Tennessee, he was instilled with a deep love of learning and the natural world by his wise, agrarian parents. He currently serves as a professor of education at Middle Georgia State University and lives in Gray, Georgia, with his wife, Amberly, and two snobbish but lovable cats. He frequently returns to his East Tennessee mountain home to reconnect with the land, the seasons, and the quiet rhythms of nature that continue to inspire his work.
“Missing” by Bill Conlogue
Bill Conlogue writes about the coalfields and farmlands of northeastern Pennsylvania.
“A Place and a Reason to Hunt” by Luther Allen
Luther Allen writes poems from his mostly unmanaged 10 acres of mountainside near Bellingham, Washington. He was born in New Mexico and lived 40 years in the Southwest before moving to the Northwest. His academic work centered primarily on biology and geography; he is a retired building designer. He has published two volumes of poetry: The View from Lummi Island and A Spiritual Thread (see https://othermindpress.
"Dear Cousin" by Michael Coleman
Michael is a dad, husband, social worker, and teacher, who is happy to call Appalachia home. When he’s not teaching social work classes at Radford University in Virginia, he can be found in his garden, chasing his two girls around the backyard, or in the nearest boxing gym. His academic work focuses on what foster families can teach the world about love, and how sharing stories promotes interpersonal growth. His work has been published in a variety of academic journals and regional publications. Wherever Michael is, he is continuously trying to learn, listen, and understand what love can teach us next.
Fiction
“Pigeons” by Surnaí Molloy
Surnaí Molloy is from the Aran Islands, Galway. She holds a BA with Creative Writing from NUIG and an MLitt in Modern and Contemporary Literature from University of St Andrews. Her work has been published in Parabola Magazine, Newfound Magazine, and The Milk House. She is the winner of the 2024 Roger Downer Creative Writing Award (Alumni), and she was a 2025 Cúirt Young Writer Delegate. Her writing is available to read on her website: www.surnaimolloy.com.
“Whitewashed” by Kari Gunter-Seymour
Kari Gunter-Seymour (she/her) is the Poet Laureate of Ohio, and Executive Director of the Women of Appalachia Project and editor of its anthology series Women Speak. She is the author of three award-winning poetry collections, including Dirt Songs (EastOver Press, 2024) winner of the 2025 IPPY Bronze, NYC Big Book and Feathered Quill Awards. Her work has been featured in a variety of publications including the American Book Review, Poem-a-Day, World Literature Today and The New York Times.
“You Won't Get a Second Chance” by Cathy Adams
Cathy Adams’latest novel, A Body’s Just as Dead, was published by SFK Press. Her writing has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She is a short story writer with publications in The Saturday Evening Post, Utne, AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review, Barely South, Five on the Fifth, Southern Pacific Review, and 72 other journals from around the world. She earned her M.F.A. at Rainier Writing Workshop, Pacific Lutheran University, Washington, and is now a faculty member with the American University in Bulgaria.
“The Escapee's Lover” by Dennis McFadden
Dennis McFadden graduated from Allegheny College, Pennsylvania, with a Bachelor’s degree in English. He lived and wrote in a cedar shingled cottage called Summerhill, in the Upstate New York countryside. Among his many works, a short story collection “Jimtown Road”, won the 2016 Press 53 Award for Short Fiction. His novel “Old Grimes is Dead”, was selected by Kirkus Reviews as one of the Best Indie Books of 2022. His stories have appeared in numerous publications, the Missouri Review, New England Review, The Sewanee Review, The Massachusetts review, and the Best American Mystery Stories, to name a few. Dennis also served as Literary Judge and guest Editor for Prime Number Magazine’s Short Fiction Award. Dennis produced prolifically, up to the end, succumbing to a decades’ long battle with cancer.
“Nameless” by Daniel Heila
Daniel Heila lives and works in the Pacific Northwest, USA. He grew up in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, where he fished creeks and ponds for trout and bass, mostly catching suckers and sunfish. In addition to being a fiction writer, he is a musician and composer. Daniel is a professional editor and indexer, working with traditionally and self-published fiction and nonfiction authors.
The judge’s selection for Best Short Story and Best Essay is expected to be announced in mid-November, but stay tuned on The Milk House’s social media for more updates!