Penn State Altoona professor shares poetry, culture in Australia

ALTOONA, Pa. - Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, professor of English at Penn State Altoona, was invited by the Liberian Community Association of New South Wales (LICAN) to read from her poetry at a March 22 gathering.

LICAN is a non-profit organization based in Sydney, Australia, that aims to bring Liberians from all parts of New South Wales together. It serves as a central support network for the community to connect, celebrate heritage, and build a unified future. The group included leaders and members of the Liberian community, most of whom immigrated to the continent during the fourteen-year Liberian civil war.

During the event, Jabbeh Wesley read from her books and engaged in discussion about her poetics, her influences, and how her works connect to Liberian Australians. A reception and book signing followed a Q&A session.

The next day, Jabbeh Wesley was honored at the 2026 Harmony Day Celebration of the Oxley Park Public School with performances by various grade school and college students and was given a certification of appreciation.

Jabbeh Wesley's trip concluded in the wedding ceremony of her long-lost niece, born during the Liberian civil war and taken to Australia to be fostered as a child refugee. Jabbeh Wesley performed the Grebo traditional rite, a part of the African oral tradition. During the two-day ceremonies of African and Western weddings, she gave talks about the Grebo tradition, speaking on what it means to lose a child to evacuations or refugee resettlement in times of war, and the beauty of finding long-lost family decades after such wars. She also performed the traditional Grebo Kola nut ceremony and chant.