KWEE Liberian Literary Magazine Jan. Iss. Vol. 0115 Mar Vol. 0315 | Page 18

Liberian Literary Magazine Promoting Liberian literature, Arts and Culture CATANA TULLY Authors of the Month Profiles PATRICIA JABBEH WESLEY Catana Tully grew up trilingual in Guatemala where she attended elementary and middle school. In tenth grade she entered a boarding school in Jamaica, WI and received her Advanced Level Higher Schools Certificate from Cambridge University, England. Expecting to become an international interpreter, her studies continued at the Sprachen und Dolmetscher Institut in Munich, Germany. However, after answering a call to work in a play, she discovered her affinity for the dramatic arts. As the actress and fashion model Catana Cayetano she appeared in Film and Television work in Germany, Austria, and Italy. She met and married the American actor Frederick V. Tully and ultimately moved to the United States. They have a son, Patrick. In Upstate New York, she completed the BA in Cultural Studies at SUNY, Empire State College; obtained a MA in Latin American and Caribbean Literature, and a DA (Doctor of Arts) in Humanistic Studies, from SUNY, Albany. In 2003, personal reasons required she retire from her tenured position as Associate Professor at SUNY Empire State College, only to return for part time work in 2005 at ESC’s Center for International Programs. There she served as Mentor and instructor in the Lebanon Program and as Interim Program Director for the Dominican Republic. Wishing to dedicate herself completely to publi shing her book, she retired entirely in 2011. Split at the Root: A Memoir of Love and Lost Identity was published in the fall of 2012. Her German version of the book is ready for publication later in 2016. Patricia Jabbeh Wesley Born in Antigua, West Indies, Althea Romeo-Mark is an educator and internationally published writer who grew up in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. She has lived and taught in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, USA, Liberia (1976-1990), London, England (1990-1991), and in Switzerland since 1991. She taught at the University of Liberia (1976-1990). She is a founding member of the Liberian Association of Writers (LAW) and is the poetry editor for Seabreeze: Journal of Liberian Contemporary Literature. She was awarded the Marguerite Cobb McKay Prize by The Caribbean Writer in June, 2009 for short story “Bitterleaf, (set in Liberia).” If Only the Dust Would Settle is her last poetry collection. She has been guest poets at the International Poetry Festival of Medellin, Colombia(2010), the Kistrech International Poetry Festival, Kissi, Kenya (2014) and The Antigua and Barbuda Review of Books 10th Anniversary Conference, Antigua and Barbuda(2015) She has been published in the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the USA, Germany, Norway, the UK, India, Colombia, Kenya, Liberia and Switzerland. More publishing history can be found at her blogsite:www.aromaproductions .blogspot.com . 18