The Milk House and AcresUSA present the

2023 Best in Rural Writing Contest

Submission Deadline: September 30th, 2023

• $300 in Prizes

• $5 Entry Fee (to support next year’s contest)

• Fiction and Nonfiction (6,000 words and under)

Submissions are now open to the inaugural Best in Rural Writing Contest. More details below.

How it Works

Ten shortlisted entries (5 fiction and 5 nonfiction submissions) will be selected by the judge after the contest deadline. These entries will be published in the 2023 Best in Rural Writing eBook.

Afterwards, the judge will select the best short story and best essay. Each author will receive $100.

Finally, a small panel, as well as the audience, will vote to crown which piece is the Best in Rural Writing. Panel members include the judge, an anonymous author, a representative from The Milk House, and a representative from AcresUSA. The audience vote will count for 1/5 of the decision. The overall winner of the Best in Rural Writing Contest will receive an additional $100 (for a total of $200). The winner will be announced late 2023.

All submissions Will be sent to the judge without the author’s name.

Eligibility

The Best in Rural Writing contest is open to everyone in the world. The work must be original and unpublished. Shortlisted authors must be willing to have their work appear in the 2023 Best in Rural Writing eBook. Authors retain all rights to their work.

Submissions should, in some way, be connected to “the rural.” The manner and extent to which this is done is open to the author and not necessarily limited to rural characters or rural topics.

How to Enter

Please read the following carefully to ensure your entry is successfully submitted.

Fill out the relevant details in our Submission Manager. Important: When selecting the genre of the submission be sure to choose “contest.”

 

You will be directed to pay the entry fee. The submission is not yet eligible if payment has not been received. You may still submit to be published on The Milk House site without payment, and all submissions without the selected genre as “contest” will be considered for such. Any questions or problems please email RyanDennis@themilkhouse.org.

To submit a short story or essay to the contest, click here.

About the Judge

Gráinne Murphy is a Cork-based novelist and occasional short story writer. Her debut novel, Where the Edge Is, was published by Legend Press in 2020, followed by The Ghostlights in 2021, and Winter People in 2022. Her fourth novel, Greener, will be published in April 2024, also by Legend Press.

Read more about Gráinne here.

About AcresUSA

We’re grateful to be in partnership with AcresUSA, who is North America’s oldest publisher on production-scale organic and regenerative farming. For more than 50 years, their mission has been to help farmers, ranchers and market gardeners grow food profitably, sustainably, and without harmful chemicals. In addition to the Acres U.S.A. magazine, which is one of the best sources for real-world, applicable information about regenerative agriculture, they also have an excellent bookstore that focuses on small farming. We’re excited about the work that AcresUSA does and the ethos behind it, so we hope that you’ll explore their site.

AcresUSA regularly organizes events to benefit farmers and ranchers who are actively improving soil health, agronomists breaking new ground in soil and plant science, and livestock managers cultivating holistic systems. Browse their events page to see what they have planned for 2023.