The Houston Country Club was transformed into a writer's salon for a few hours Saturday night as old guard Houstonians and young authors gathered for the Inprint Poets & Writers Ball.

The annual fundraiser differs from most other black-tie balls because the focus of attention is on the written word. During the cocktail hour, it was standing-room-only as several hundred guests packed into three rooms and writers rotated through each one to read from their work.

Martha Serpas, an instructor at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program, read a collection of poems about south Louisiana, where she grew up and "where life is still good," she said.

S.C. Gwynne read excerpts from his bestseller, Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American HIstory. It's a powerful book that certainly seems to have one of the world's longest titles.

Antonya Nelson, also an instructor in the UH Creative Writing Program and author of the novel Bound, read a hilarious essay about her experience getting a tattoo as a middle aged woman.

Later in the evening, Colum McCann, an Irish native and author of Let the Great World Spin, entranced the crowd with a mesmerizing speech about how his experiences in Texas during a bicycle trip across the United States 25 years ago shaped his life as a writer and a human being. Guests each received a handbound copy of McCann's short story, Through the Field.

Table centerpieces, curated by Elouise A. "Ouisie" Jones, featured tributes to great books. The table where I sat was anchored by a centerpiece of classic children's books, and Inprint board member Lillie Robertson asked guests to name their favorite. The Madeline series and Alice in Wonderland were mentioned.

At another table, Rachel Frazier included several rare books in a centerpiece based on The Man Who Loved Books Too Much. Her husband, Dr. Bud Frazier, is a passionate book collector.

Inprint associate director Marilyn Jones saluted one of the evening's honorees, Marion Barthelme, with a table decoration table centered on Barthleme's book, Women in the Texas Populist Movement: Letters to the Southern Mercury.

Barthleme, C. Glenn Cambor, and Karl Kilian were saluted for their efforts to develop Inprint into one of the nation's leading literary organizations.

The gala, chaired by past Inprint presidents Jones, Franci Crane, Patty Hubbard, Sis Johnson and Hinda Simon, raised $340,000 — far over the $290,000 goal, a thrilled Inprint executive director Rich Levy told the crowd.

Spotted in the black-tie crowd: Eddie and Chinhui Allen, Bill and Andrea White, Jeff Smisek and Diana Strassman, Glenn and Kathy Cambor, Sanford and Susie Criner, Consuelo Duroc-Danner, Richard and Marty Finger, Mack and Cece Fowler, Dan and Eleanor Gilbane, and Mark Wawro and Melanie Gray,