ALTOONA, Pa. — Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, professor of English at Penn State Altoona, will read from her works and offer a poetry workshop for the Friends of the Roethke Foundation’s 2025 Poets Laureate Series.
Wesley will open the series on Tuesday, Feb. 11, with a reading from her books of poetry and a lecture “Finding Poetry, Finding Healing During a Time of Chaos & Pain.”
On Thursday, Feb. 13, Wesley will conduct the workshop “Writing as a Tool in Finding Healing/Writing Pain,” in which participants will explore the deep places in their hearts, read poetry together, and write poems that heal and restore.
Both events are open to the public.
The Roethke Foundation Poets Laureate Series recognizes poets and promotes their work. The series is part of the work of the Friends of Theodore Roethke Foundation, a non-profit organization that preserves and promotes the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Theodore Roethke.
Wesley is the 2022 winner of the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize of $10,000, a prize awarded every three years to a poet whose book of poetry has made a significant contribution to American poetry.