ALTOONA, Pa. — A forthcoming book of poems by Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, professor of English at Penn State Altoona, has been named to “Publishers Weekly” top 10 list in the poetry category for spring and summer 2026.
“Patricia Jabbeh Wesley: Collected Poems, 1998-2020” includes all of Wesley’s previously published books of poetry, including “Before the Palm Could Bloom: Poems of Africa,” Becoming Ebony,” “The River is Rising,” “Where the Road Turns,” “When the Wanderers Come Home” and “Praise Song for My Children: New and Selected Poems.”
Wesley’s works document her experiences as a Liberian civil war survivor and as an African woman, mother and wife, telling the stories of women and families killed in the fourteen-year war. Her poetry also touches on her experiences as an exile, refugee and immigrant, her family, and her life in America. The book is scheduled for publication by the University of Nebraska Press in May 2026.