-Winter Five Ways: The 2011 Massey Lectures begin this week, marking its 50th anniversary. New Yorker staff writer Adam Gopnik will travel across Canada to deliver this year’s lecture. His talk, entitled “Winter,” will explore five facets of the frosty season: Romantic Winter, Radical Winter, Recuperative Winter, Recreational Winter and Remembering Winter. Gopnik starts in Montreal (Oct 12) on his five-city tour, and then heads to Halifax (Oct 14), Edmonton (Oct 21), Vancouver (Oct 23) and Toronto (7:30pm on Oct 26, Royal Conservatory of Music, 273 Bloor Street West. Tickets: $25/$15 students and seniors). Gopnik’s upcoming book Winter from Anansi collects his 2011 Massey lectures.
-Atwood at the Lectern: Margaret Atwood will deliver the Bloor Street United Church’s annual Craddock Lecture on Sunday, October 16 at 10:30am. Her talk, titled “Religion: Recovering our Roots” explores the relationship between nature and faith. She’ll discuss how modern religion can reconnect with the spiritual aspects of nature. Her talk will be part of a service featuring traditional nature-based scripture readings, as well as performances of original hymns Atwood wrote which were featured in her recent novel, The Year of the Flood. This free lecture is open to all and will be held at Bloor Street United Church (300 Bloor Street West).
–À la recherche de l’écrivain perdu: Got a would-be novel collecting dust somewhere? Filmmaker and author Morgan Spurlock wants to hear from you. The director of Supersize Me has issued a casting call for failed novelists for his new documentary TV series Failure Club.
-On the subject of failure…Just as the sting from the New Yorker’s 20 Under 40 was finally wearing off, National Book Awards announces 2011’s 5 Under 35. The award celebrates five fiction writers under age 35. This year’s winners are Shani Boianjiu (The People of Forever Are Not Afraid), Danielle Evans (Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self), Mary Beth Keane (The Walking People), Melinda Moustakis (Bear Down, Bear North: Alaska Stories) and John Corey Whaley(Where Things Come Back).
-What, no icon for time-wasting on Facebook? Graphic designer Melike Turgut maps out a visual representation of the creative process.