Yvonne Blackwood
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Yvonne Blackwood is the author of four adult non-fiction books, Into Africa: A Personal Journey, Will That Be Cash or Cuffs?, Into Africa: the Return, and College Life of a Retired Senior: A Memoir of Perseverance, Faith, and Finding the Way. She has also published three children’s picture books: Nosey Charlie Comes to Town, Nosey Charlie Goes to Court, and Nosey Charlie Chokes on a Wiener. An award-winning short-story writer, Blackwood has contributed stories to several anthologies, including Human Kindness, Canadian Voices, and Wordscape. She has published articles in magazines including More of Our Canada, Adelaide, InTouch, and Green Prints and has written columns for the Toronto Star, Pride Newspaper, and The African Connection.
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College Life of a Retired Senior: A Memoir of Perseverance, Faith, and Finding the Way
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Memoir
Seven years after she retired from a lengthy career in banking, Yvonne Blackwood surprised her friends and family by returning to school at age sixty-four to pursue an English degree. Her purpose was fueled by four powerful reasons—to add texture to her writing; to ward off dementia; to enhance structure in her life; and to inspire her two young grandsons to continue their education after high school. But as she stepped onto the campus of Canada’s third-largest university, Blackwood had no idea of the hurdles she was about to face. In a retelling of her journey into a new beginning, Blackwood details how, after enrolling in York University, she struggled to maintain her established lifestyle, attend class with hard-to-connect-with millennials, and face a series of challenges that included two strikes at the university, a campus lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a shocking health diagnosis in her final year of studies. 
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Into Africa: A Personal Journey
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Memoir
A remarkable and intriguing story about a journey to West Africa, the land of Blackwood’s ancestors. Into Africa, a Personal Journey begins in Nigeria with exposure to the tight control by the military that causes Blackwood to experience fear as never before. The journey takes her on an exploration of a new mysterious world where she experiences joy and wonderment as she shares in the lives of family members, friends and new acquaintances. In Ghana, her respect for human beings, and her sense of adventure along with destiny, lead her to meet Adamson. Determined to see it all, she finds herself in desperate situations, each mysteriously resolved by strangers. Peppered with nostalgic flashbacks to her native Jamaica, and colourful descriptions of West Africa, the memoir resonates with unique poignancy, a love of people, and Blackwood’s growing spiritual quest for her African roots among the proud Ashanti people. Down to earth, vulnerable yet fearless, Blackwood shares with us a small part of her life as it unfolds. 
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Into Africa: The Return
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Memoir
Into Africa, the Return is a heartwarming story of a courageous woman who dared to step outside of her comfort zone to discover her roots and give back to the land of her ancestors. Parts describing Africa s sights, sounds, smells and tastes are truly delightful. 
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