"Gimme one good reason why I should try and try and try and write line after flaccid little line," sings Ana Porter on "Hunger." The song was inspired by T.S. Eliot's "Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

A poem about a lack of urgency and the fear of rejection stirs a songwriter to create. That's the kind of writerly motivation celebrated by San Francisco performer Deborah Pardes' SIBL Project, the "Songs Inspired by Literature" CD series.

Porter, Pardes and Ira Marlowe will be among the performers at the release party for "Chapter Two" of the series, which features contributions from David Bowie, Steve Earle, Rosanne Cash and Tom Waits. Proceeds support efforts to improve the reading skills of some of the 44 million American adults who read at or below a fifth-grade level.

For Porter, that's one very good reason to "try and try and try."

CD release party for "Songs Inspired by Literature, Chapter Two," 6 p.m. Wednesday at Cafe Du Nord, 2170 Market St., San Francisco. $5-$20. (415) 553- 3330 or www.siblproject.org.

E-mail James Sullivan at jamessullivan@sfchronicle.com.