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.

  • Ajijic,  Chapala,  Irish Diaspora,  Jalisco,  James Taylor,  Lake Chapala,  Mexico,  Mexico,  Paula Meehan,  You're So Vain

    Mexico ~ With My Own Ones

    August 23, 2018 / 1 Comment

    “I am the blind woman finding her way home by a map of tune. When the song that is in me is the song I hear from the world I’ll be home. It’s not written down and I don’t remember the words. I know when I hear it I’ll have made it myself. I’ll be home.“ ~ Paula Meehan, Irish…

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  • Birthdays,  bombing,  IRA,  John Hewitt,  Loughinisland,  Memoir,  Northern Ireland,  Omagh,  Peace,  Sectarianism,  The Good Friday Agreement,  The Peace Process,  The Troubles,  Themes of childhood,  UVF,  W.B. Yeats

    At this moment, bear in mind Omagh.

    August 14, 2018 / No Comments

    As we plan to mark the 20th anniversary of the Omagh bombing, I am drawn back to the summer of 1998. A new mother, I had taken my baby daughter back home to Northern Ireland, my lovely, tragic Northern Ireland. Between my father, my brother, and a handful of relatives who could keep a secret (an impressive trait in rural County…

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    Editor
  • Apartheid,  Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan,  Death and dying,  From the Republic of Conscience,  Funerals,  Human Rights,  Loss,  Nelson Mandela,  Northern Ireland,  Politics,  saying goodbye,  Seamus Heaney,  Soundtracks of our Lives,  The Cure at Troy,  Themes of Childhood,  Writing

    “madiba magic” ~ once in a hundred years

    July 17, 2018 / 23 Comments

    Back in June, I imagine Seamus Heaney was vexed over the thought of a world without Mandela. I think we all were. I remember my husband and I talking about his charisma, the "Madiba magic" that changed the world. We were sad that Mandela's time with us was coming to an end, and I remember turning to the poetry of…

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    Editor
  • Children of The Troubles,  Damian Gorman,  Devices of Detachment,  For too many Palestinian and Israeli Parents,  Gaza,  Memoir,  Northern Ireland,  Poetry,  Tony Parker

    Gaza in Context ~ How Long Must We Sing this Song?

    May 17, 2018 / No Comments

    As I write, Gaza is being bombed.  Again. On Monday, Israeli forces shot and killed 58 Palestinians and wounded at least 1,200 during a protest against  the opening of the United States embassy in Jerusalem. Children lie among the dead. Again. Babies, one of whom was in her grandmother’s arms when she inhaled the tear gas that would kill her a few…

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