Yvonne Watterson Writing

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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.

BC Action, Breast Cancer Advocacy, Breast Cancer Awareness, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Breast Cancer Treatment, Breast cancer walks, Culture of breast cancer, Early Detection, Mammograms, Mastectomy, Pink Ribbons, Pinkwashing, Profiting from breast cancer, Susan G Komen Foundation

the five people I met in cancer country . . .

October 7, 2014 / 12 Comments

Opening the in-flight menu on my trip back from Denver this past Sunday, I was reminded that Breast Cancer (industry) Awareness Month is in full swing. Again. So again, I am reminding my friends to remind their friends to think before they pink. With all that’s happened over the past year, I have chosen not to dwell so much on being diagnosed with cancer, living with cancer,…

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BC Action, Breast Cancer Advocacy, Breast Cancer Awareness, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Breast cancer walks, Culture of breast cancer, Early Detection, Mammograms, Pink Ribbons, Pinkwashing, Profiting from breast cancer, Susan G Komen Foundation

what, no cure? we’ll always have october . . .

October 31, 2013 / 15 Comments

Time to remove the pink ribbons from our lapels and gorge ourselves with Halloween candy. Tomorrow, when November comes, our grocery stores will turn from pink to the amber hues of Thanksgiving, and before we know it, we’ll be decorating Christmas trees, in the spirit of goodwill to all men. Tomorrow on November 1st, after an interminable month of pink…

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Blogging, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Breast Cancer Treatment, Cancer Language, Culture of breast cancer, Diagnosis, Early Detection, Language of Cancer, Mammograms, Pink Ribbon Culture, Pink Ribbons, Shopping, Susan G Komen Foundation

a pink ribbon made a blogger out of me

October 12, 2013 / 9 Comments

“My New Pink Ribbon” Nov. 9, 2011 I have shown only a little restraint in not searching every corner of the internet for information about fine needle aspirations and core needle biopsies of the breast. The latter sounds more ominous. November 9th 2011 at 1:30pm, I was scheduled to go to Scottsdale Healthcare for a core needle biopsy. Once again supine…

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Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Diagnosis, Dispatch from the Diaspora, Language matters, Mammograms, Mammograms, Susan G Komen Foundation

My New Pink Ribbon – Branded.

November 10, 2011 / No Comments

In the past 10 days, I have shown some restraint. I have not searched every corner of the Internet for information about fine needle aspirations and core needle biopsies of the breast – the latter always sounding more ominous – before showing up for it at Scottsdale Healthcare this morning. Supine in a small room illuminated only by images on an ultrasound monitor and…

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