Yvonne Watterson Writing
Yvonne Watterson Writing

considering the lilies & lessons from the field ©

More About Yvonne

More About Yvonne

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.

  • BC Action,  Breast Cancer Advocacy,  Breast Cancer Awareness Month,  Pinkwashing,  Susan G Komen Foundation

    Pink Ribbons & Forever Chemicals.

    September 28, 2021 / No Comments

    I can already feel it, the encroachment of October, breast cancer awareness industry month. It’s been ten years since since a doctor diagnosed me with invasive breast cancer and told me I was simply one of the eight women who will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime, ten years  since I started paying attention to the…

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    Editor
  • BC Action,  Breast Cancer Advocacy,  Breast Cancer Awareness Month,  Pinkwashing,  Susan G Komen Foundation

    Please Don’t Pink for this Warrior – I’m Talking to You Ford Motor Company.

    October 3, 2018 / No Comments

    About a month to go before October disappears and all signs of breast cancer awareness disappear from grocery store shelves and perfume counters, from America all the way to Ireland where they are painting it pink as well. In their place, will be the autumnal hues of Thanksgiving, and some of us will forget to be aware of breast cancer, until the…

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

    What – no cure? Maybe next October.

    October 31, 2014 / 14 Comments

    Time to remove the pink ribbons from our lapels and gorge ourselves with Halloween candy. As November comes around, our grocery store shelves will turn from pink to the amber hues of Thanksgiving, and before we know it, we’ll be decorating Christmas trees and drinking egg-nog. After an interminable month of pink ribbons and races, I will still have breast cancer. I haven’t…

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    Editor
  • 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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