by Kyle Tonniges

* Pinot, Pigs and Poets, a fundraiser for Campfire USA at Happy Hollow Country Club (1701 S. 105th St.), will be Friday, June 10, from 7 to 10 p.m. Pinot, Pigs and Poets is an annual event attendees to sample featured Pinot Noir wines and unique pork dishes from local restaurants. Attendees also will enjoy poetry from Matt Mason and other great Omaha slam poets. Get a head start on the festivities by purchasing patron tickets ($200 per person), which entitles you to get the proverbial party started at 6 p.m. Regular ($125) or Under 30 ($75) ticket holders can get in on the action at 7 p.m. If those prices are too steep, you can still contribute to the cause. Go to NonProfitAM.org/event-detail.aspx?2058 for more info. * Writers and readers should plan to attend at least a couple sessions at the Nebraska Summer Writer’s Conference in Lincoln. It begins Saturday, June 11, and runs all week. There are writers’ workshops, reading and discussion groups and appearances by Daniel Handler of Lemony Snicket fame, local authors (and Timothy Schaffert, Richard Dooling and Sean Doolittle, among others. Whether you’re into poetry, nonfiction or fiction, there’s a workshop for you. Rates vary. For the full scoop, and to register online, go to NebraskaWriters.unl.edu/. * Omniscient blowhard Glenn Beck will launch Mercury Ink, a publishing division co-published by Simon & Schuster, with whom Beck already has a “multi-book, multi-imprint co-publishing agreement.” Surprisingly, coloring books and chapter books with only one-syllable words will not be the mainstay of the imprint. The Original Argument: The Federalists’ Case for the Constitution, Adapted for the 21st Century, a nonfiction paperback, will hit stores on June 14, followed by The Snow Angel, a novel, in October.

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