Three free contests, for past loves, short fiction collections, and essays about effective leadership

Spruce Mountain Press Past Loves free contest: Nearly everyone has memories of a former sweetheart. Write your true story of an earlier love, in no more than 700 words. Tell us about someone whose memory brings a smile or a tear, or both. 700 words maximum. 

Deadline September 17. Guidelines here.

The Iowa Short Fiction Award & John Simmons Short Fiction Award for a collection of short stories.

Eligibility: Any writer who has not previously published a volume of prose fiction is eligible to enter the competition.

The manuscript must be a collection of short stories in English of at least 150 word-processed, double-spaced pages. We do not accept e-mail submissions. Mail only. The manuscript may include a cover page, contents page, etc., but these are not required. The author's name can be on every page but this is not required. Stories previously published in periodicals are eligible for inclusion. This is a free contest. There is no reading fee.

Articles of Faith by Elizabeth Oness,
a former award winner

Award-winning manuscripts will be published by the University of Iowa Press under the Press's standard contract.

Deadline: September 30. Guidelines here.

WOLFoundation runs an annual competition looking for the best non-technical, English language writing on any themes related to political/social/environmental issues. The theme for the 2014 competition is "Leadership: What are the characteristics of effective leadership for the 21st Century?" 

You can submit essays or short stories, factual commentary or fiction – whichever way and whichever writing style you choose to communicate your ideas. Just make it compelling.

The winning entry will receive a cash prize of $1,500. A further $500 will be awarded to the second placed entry.

Shortlisted entries may be published as a book of collected essays.

Deadline: September 30. Guidelines here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Collingwood, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Niagara on the Lake, Oakville, Orillia, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Sudbury, Toronto, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.