The 2023 Best in Rural Writing contest, run through The Milk House, has just been announced, with submissions now open.
The competition is open to everyone over 16 internationally. The work must be original and unpublished. Shortlisted authors must be willing to have their work appear in the 2023 ‘Best in Rural Writing’ e-book.
“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,” said Ryan Dennis of The Milk House.
An author, Dennis grew up on a dairy farm in upstate New York, and was a writer-in-residence at Maynooth University for 2021 and 2022.
This year’s judge is Grainne Murphy, a Cork-based novelist who published ‘Where the Edge Is’ in 2020; ‘The Ghost Lights’ in 2021; and ‘Winter People’ in 2022, all by Legend Press. Her fourth noel ‘Greener’ will be published in April 2024.
“Being a fan of her work, I’m very excited to have her on board for the contest and the honesty and perceptiveness with which she writes about rural characters makes her a particularly good fit to evaluate submissions,” Dennis said.
Best in Rural Writing
Ten shortlisted entries – five fiction and five non-fiction submissions – will be selected by the judge after the contest deadline of September 30. These entries will be published in the 2023 ‘Best in Rural Writing’ e-book. The shortlisted authors will $100.
A small panel as well as the audience will vote to crown the author of the piece the ‘Best in Rural Writing.’ Panel members will include the judge; an anonymous author; a representative from the Milk House; and a representative from AcresUSA. The audience vote will account for one fifth of the decision.
The overall winner of the ‘Best in Rural Writing’ contest will then receive an additional $100. The winner will be announced in late-2023.
Dennis said he decided to run the competition to further the goal of The Milk House which is to help gain exposure for writing from and about rural environments, and to help foster the conversation of what it means to be from the countryside.
“I hope it becomes another opportunity for rural voices to be heard and to champion the type of stories those voices have to tell,” he said.
“We’re looking to grow the contest every year and to continually increase the cash prizes.
“I’m pleased to be able to partner with AcresUSA in presenting the contest. AcresUSA is North America’s oldest publisher on production scale organic and regenerative farming, offering a variety of resources to support sustainable farming, including books, the AcresUSA magazine, and various events throughout the year.
“Because they fit with the ethos of The Milk House in advocating for family farming, I’m glad to team up with them,” he added.
“The contest, as well as the whole Milk House project, has also benefited from the assistance of three editors who volunteer their time: Samantha Rogers, Amruta Gaiki and Adeline Henry. Their help to make the ‘Best in Rural Writing’ contest happen, has been invaluable,” he said.