Back in the 1980s, novelist Charles Baxter helped raise money to combat hunger. "All across the country, writing programs gave readings to benefit hunger relief agencies, and then slowly they stopped doing so, except for a few programs here and there," Baxter said. "I thought, why not bring it back to Minnesota?"

So for the second consecutive year, Baxter -- author of "The Feast of Love" and "The Soul Thief" and a collection of short fiction due out next year -- has organized a fund-raiser on the campus of the University of Minnesota, where he teaches.

"Half of the people who benefit from food shelves in Minnesota are children -- half," he said. "And more than half of the adults who benefit are employed. I mean, you start reading around in these statistics and if your heart is in the right place you just start thinking, 'Well, what can I do about this?'"

So here's what you can do: For a $5 donation (or more), you can hear Baxter read, along with Patricia Hampl, Michael Dennis Browne, Madelon Sprengnether, Ray Gonzalez and M.J. Fitzgerald, at 8 p.m. Oct. 27, in Coffman Theatre. Last year's reading raised more than $1,400 for Second Harvest Heartland. While organizers hope to double that this year, Baxter added, "They're always very quick to say how far a dollar will go. Even a buck will feed a hungry kid. And so we're grateful for anything we can get."

Also ...

•"The Infirmary," by Mankato poet Edward Micus, has won the 2008 Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize. Micus is a past winner of the Loft-McKnight Poetry Award.

•Paul Gruchow's book "Journal of a Prairie Year" has been republished by Milkweed Editions. The collection of essays was published in 1985 by University of Minnesota Press. Gruchow, of Worthington, Minn., died in 2004.

• This week's literary scavenger hunt question is: Name the author who has been known to write longhand drafts of a popular mystery series at the St. Clair Broiler in St. Paul. This week's bookstores: Uncle Hugo's/Uncle Edgar's, 2864 Chicago Av. S., Mpls, and University of Minnesota bookstore, Coffman Memorial Union, 300 Washington Av. SE., Mpls. And go here for more information: http:// twincitieslit.wordpress.com/.

• "The Sky Always Hears Me, and the Hills Don't Mind," a young-adult novel by Minnesota writer Kirstin Cronn-Mills, has been published by Flux, a division of Llewelyn Publications.

• "Blackwork," a needlecraft mystery by Twin Cities writer Monica Ferris, has been published by Berkley.

• "13 1/2," by former Minnesotan Nevada Barr, is out this month with Vanguard Press. The thriller is set in Rochester, Minn., and New Orleans.