ALTOONA, Pa. — Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, professor of English at Penn State Altoona, will read from her newest book of poetry on Thursday, Oct. 15, from 12:05 to 1:20 p.m. in the Titelman Study of the Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts.
“Patricia Jabbeh Wesley: Collected Poems, 1998-2020” was released in August. It spans two decades of her work and includes all six of her previously published books of poetry.
Wesley has written several critically acclaimed poetry collections, including “Praise Song for My Children: New and Selected Poems,” “When the Wanderers Come Home” and the children’s book “In Monrovia, the River Visits the Sea.” She is also the editor of two anthologies, including “Breaking the Silence: Anthology of Liberian Poetry,” the most comprehensive volume of Liberian literature since Liberia’s independence.
Wesley’s awards include the 2022 Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize for “Praise Song for My Children: New and Selected Poems,” a Levinson Prize from Poetry Magazine for her poems “Black Woman Selling Her Home in America” and “Healing Will Come: Elegy After Natural Disaster,” an Edward Stanley Prize from Prairie Schooner for her poem “My Name is Dawanyeno” and a Crab Orchard Award for her second book, “Becoming Ebony.”
She has received numerous other awards and grants, including two faculty fellowships from Penn State’s Humanities Institute and four nominations for Penn State Laureate, including three finalist selections. In August, she was honored in Liberia with the Emma Shannon Walser Patriotism Award for using poetry to preserve Liberia’s history, culture and identity while bringing the stories of the Liberian people to the global stage. On Sept. 25, Wesley was honored at a book launch ceremony and a staged performance of her poetry at Brown University in celebration.