Michigan State University Assistant Professor Tim Conrad received a 2025 Midwest Book Award in the Fiction – Short Story/Anthology category for his debut short story collection, “The Machine We Trust,” published by Cornerstone Press in April 2024. Conrad teaches creative writing and literature at MSU through the Department of English.

The Midwest Book Awards Contest, through the Midwest Independent Publishers Association, is the premier contest for small, independent, and university presses in the region. Awards recognize creativity in content and execution, overall book quality, and the book’s unique contribution to its subject area.

“It was a deliberate decision to publish ‘The Machine We Trust’ with an independent publisher. It was a deliberate decision to choose someone who likes Midwestern content and boosting up-and-coming Midwestern writers,” Conrad said. “It’s nice on some level to feel seen by people who are about these things.”