Newtown Cultural Arts Commission (NCAC) is pleased to announce the fourth annual “Risk A Verse” poetry event will take place on Sunday, April 7, at 2 pm.

April is National Poetry Month, a celebration of the pleasure of this literary art form. The local cultural arts commission is participating by inviting some “notable Newtowners” to recite their favorite poems in an afternoon of community sharing, followed by a delicious reception.

The purpose is simple: to prove that poetry is not an art form of the elite; it is for everyone, and there is a poem out there for you.

This year, there is a varied list of folks reciting poetry from all walks of Newtown life, including Father Bob of St Rose Roman Catholic Church; Sue Roman, former president of Taunton Press; Frank Lockwood, brew master at Reverie Brewing Co; Barbara Andrews-Wood, who manages the only full-serve gas station in Newtown; and Maureen Will, director of Newtown Emergency Communications Center ("dispatch"), among many others.

The hosts of the event are Newtown Poet Laureate Lisa Schwartz and NCAC member Tracy Van Buskirk.

The event will again be held at Newtown Meeting House, 31 Main Street.

Admission is free, but donations are welcome. Funds raised will be used towards this summer’s Art Festival and also to help fund NCAC scholarship and grant programs. With a donation of $5 or more, attendees will receive a booklet of all the poems presented at the event.

A reception follows the event in the lower meeting room. Reverie Brewing is planning to offer some of their handcrafted local beer during the reception.

For more information, email newtownpoetry@gmail.com, call 203-731-1809, or find Risk A Verse — Newtown on Facebook.