Main reading - Patricia Jabbeh Wesley

As part of The Poetry Summit Poetry Interational welcomes Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, a Liberian poet and human rights activist. In this special reading, her work takes center stage as she performs a selection of her poems that highlight the heavy but vital themes of her poetry, such as the repercussions of the Liberian civil war on those who lived through it. 

Her poetry deeply moves through the emotional and personal stories she shares, giving a voice to those who are often unheard. The reading will be accompanied by Dutch translations by Babeth Fonchie Fotchind, allowing the audience to fully experience the power of her words. 

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear a poet who pushes the boundaries of poetry and activism. Come listen to the compelling words of Patricia Jabbeh Wesley during this main reading, hosted by Jelle van Riet.

Patricia Jabbeh Wesley

Patricia Jabbeh Wesley is a Liberian poet, memoirist, writer, professor and human rights activist. She is currently a professor of English, Creative Writing, and African Literature at the Pennsylvania State University.  

Her debut poetry collection, Before the Palm Could Bloom (1998), was followed by Becoming Ebony (2003), which won the Crab Orchard Award. Her latest collection, Praise Song for My Children (2020), won the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize.  

Jabbeh Wesley’s poetry deals with themes such as the African Diaspora and hybrid identity, home and displacement, femininity and motherhood. As a survivor of the Liberian civil war, she gives a voice to the voiceless.

Her poems have appeared in Harvard Review, Prairie Schooner, and The New York Times Magazine. She has won the Edward Stanely Poetry Prize and the Levinson Prize. Her work has been translated into several languages, including Spanish, Italian, Finnish, and Hebrew.