Auburn Poet Laureate Marjorie Rommel joins other artists for a night to celebrate National Poetry Month. The program is 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Auburn Avenue Theater, 10 Auburn Ave.

The free program – a partnership between hosts Northwest Renaissance Poets and the City of Auburn – also features Washington State Poet Laureate Tod Marshall, former Washington State poets laureate Elizabeth Austen and Sam Green, and local youth poet Summer Barnett.

As a special feature, local poet and actress Emilie Rommel Shimkus will present a short take from her film “Tell your Children.”

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Rommel said. “There’ll be a lot of people there, and we’ll put up poetry information tables in the lobby.”

One may ask, in this year of projected budget cuts to the arts, does poetry still matter?

“Of course, it does,” Rommel said. “I think, in fact, it’s more recognized these days than has been for long time. I think the influence of the Slam movement is bringing young people in. It’s been a really good thing. … Auburn has not exactly been known as a poetry town until recent years, but we’ve been doing state laureates at Auburn Avenue Theater for quite a while now.”

There will be light refreshments.

The event is posted on Facebook.