Yvonne Watterson Writing

More about Yvonne

Yvonne Watterson is a Northern Irish-born writer and educator, now based near Guadalajara, Mexico. Her career in public education spans 30 years, during which she led school reform initiatives featured in national outlets including The New York Times and Education Week. Her work as a high school principal in Arizona focused on equity, inclusion, and student advocacy, earning both local and national attention. Yvonne's writing life began in November 2011, after an invasive breast cancer diagnosis sent her searching for answers online. What began as survival grew into a practice of storytelling, with her work appearing beyond this blog in The Irish Times, Irish Central, Reading Ireland, and other outlets. Yvonne's essays and reflections explore themes ranging from The Troubles in Northern Ireland and the poetry of Seamus Heaney to personal experiences of illness, loss, and resilience after being widowed in 2013. She compiled and edited Documented Dreams, a bilingual collection of letters documenting her advocacy with young immigrant students, and she contributed to Bravados: An Anthology, featuring 21 personal narratives by expats living in the Lake Chapala region. Most recently, she collaborated with Stephen Travers on The Bass Player – Surviving the Miami Showband Massacre. Yvonne’s social justice advocacy has earned her numerous honors, including the City of Phoenix Martin Luther King “Living the Dream” Award and the YWCA Tribute to Women Social Justice Leader Award. She is also a musician, performing with her partner, Scott Henrich, in The Old Souls Band, a six-piece Americana ensemble based in Ajijic, Mexico and she plays violin in the Lake Chapala Community Orchestra. Her daughter, Sophie, also a writer, lives in Arizona. “If you have the words, there's always a chance that you'll find the way.” ― Seamus Heaney

About Yvonne

From there to here . . . Yvonne Watterson is a Northern Irish-born writer and educator, now based near Guadalajara, Mexico. Her career in public education spans nearly 30 years, during which she led school reform initiatives featured in national outlets including The New York Times and Education Week. Her work as a high school principal in Arizona focused on equity, inclusion, and student advocacy, earning both local and national attention. Her writing life began in 2011, after an invasive breast cancer diagnosis sent her searching for answers online. What began as survival grew into a practice of storytelling, with her work appearing in The Irish Times, Irish Central, Reading Ireland, and other outlets. Her essays and reflections explore themes ranging from The Troubles in Northern Ireland and the poetry of Seamus Heaney to personal experiences of illness, loss, and resilience after being widowed in 2013. She compiled and edited Documented Dreams, a bilingual collection of letters documenting her advocacy with young immigrant students, and she contributed to Bravados: An Anthology, featuring 21 personal narratives by expats living in the Lake Chapala region. Most recently, she collaborated with Stephen Travers on The Bass Player – Surviving the Miami Showband Massacre. Yvonne’s social justice advocacy has earned her numerous honors, including the City of Phoenix Martin Luther King “Living the Dream” Award and the YWCA Tribute to Women Social Justice Leader Award. She is also a musician, performing with her partner, Scott Henrich, in The Old Souls Band, an Americana ensemble based in Ajijic, Mexico and she plays violin in the Lake Chapala Community Orchestra. Her daughter, Sophie, is also a writer, living in Arizona.

American Dream, Bruce Springsteen, Themes of Childhood

The Boss & Me – Still Looking for America

March 9, 2016 / No Comments

When he announced he was going to tour again and that he would perform The River – all of it – I knew I’d be there, somewhere in the nosebleed section. Since 1984, I have seen Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band ten times, and there isn’t a 4th of July – or a Presidential race – when I don’t…

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American Dream, Being young, Belfast, Dispatch from the Diaspora, Glenn Frey, Take It Easy, The Eagles

On becoming an American Girl – on the Corner of Winslow, Arizona

January 18, 2016 / 6 Comments

When I was young, I wanted to be Linda Ronstadt. I knew by heart the lyrics of every song she covered, and in my teenage bedroom, I sang along with her, having deluded myself that I was within her range. Bored and adolescent, I just wanted to be far away from grey skies and Margaret Thatcher and from Northern Ireland – its politics…

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American Dream, Arizona, Belfast, Borders, Bullying, Gay Marriage, Governor Jan Brewer, Human Rights, Immigration, Marriage, Politics, Racial Profiing, SB1062, SB1070, Soundtracks of our Lives, The Troubles

do the right thing this time, Governor Brewer.

February 21, 2014 / 14 Comments

A version of this article also appears at IrishCentral.com: Arizona Governor Could Show us That Lessons of History do not Apply to her Again. The last time I hoped Arizona Governor Jan Brewer would do the right thing was in the summer of 2010. I was sitting in my Principal’s office, only half-enjoying a visit from a former student – each of us…

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9.11.2013, 9/11, American Dream, Anything can Happen, Arizona, Art, Belfast, bombing, Healing Field Tempe, Human Rights, Loss, Memoir, Northern Ireland, Phoenix, Remembering September 11th, Rolling Stones, Seamus Heaney, Sectarianism, Terrorism, The Troubles, Themes of childhood

moving memories from New York to Phoenix

September 10, 2013 / No Comments

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