Samuel Wagan Watson

Samuel Wagan Watson
Born	1972 Brisbane, Queensland
Occupation	Poet
Parent	Sam Watson

Samuel Wagan Watson (born 1972) is a contemporary Indigenous Australian poet.

Samuel Wagan Watson was born in Brisbane, his family is Irish, German, Bundjalung and Birri Gubba. His poetry ranges from observation of everyday experience to the effects of colonisation in a vividly direct, almost tactile, language.

In the late 1990s the Brisbane City Council set up a project to raise awareness of the Boondall Wetlands. The project was set up to bring together historians, poets, photographers, environmentalists and designers and show the cultural history of the Wetlands, both the local indigneous history and the experiences of European settlers. Samuel Watson was invited to this project, with the poets Brett Dionysius and Liz Hall-Downs, and in 2000 an audio CD was produced of their work, called Blackfellas Whitefellas Wetlands. The very different voices and focus of the three poets worked together to create a sense or place and of history.

When asked in interview who had influenced him, Samuel Watson recognised the influence of his parents, and listed also, "Nick Cave, Tom Waites, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski and Robert Adamson".

Samuel Wagan Watson's father is the novelist and political activist, Sam Watson.

Awards and Nominations

• 1999 - Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, David Unaipon Award for an Emerging Indigenous Writers for Of Muse, Meandering and Midnight
• 2005 - New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry Book of the Year for Smoke Encrypted Whispers

Samuel Watson has also received a Highly Commended in both the Anne Elder Awards and the 2000 Award for Outstanding Contributions to Australian Culture.

Bibliography

Books

• Of Muse, Meandering and Midnight. (UQP, 1999) ISBN 0-7022-3174-6
• Itinerant Blues. (UQP, 2002) ISBN 0-7022-3282-3 reviewed
• Hotel Bone (Vagabone Press, 0201)
• Smoke Encrypted Whispers. (UQP, 2004) ISBN 0-7022-3471-0 review
• Three legged dogs, and other poems. (Picaro Press, 2005) OCLC: 69249268

Articles and Other Publications

• "Cold Storage", The Literary Review, 45 (no. 1): 108, 2001, ISSN: 0024-4589 {{citation}}: |issue= has extra text (help)
• "Hotel Bone", Jacket Magazine, Jacket 16, March 2002
• "Recipe for Metropolis Brisbane", Southerly, 62 (No. 2), June 2002 {{citation}}: |issue= has extra text (help)
• "Boondall Wetlands, ... falling mother sky: A Collection of Poetry", Brisbane City Council, Brisbane Stories, 1996 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |year= / |date= mismatch (help)

Other Media

• Watson, Samuel Wagan (2000). "Blackfellas Whitefellas Wetlands". CD. unknown. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

• Review of Smoke at Australian Humanities Review
• Messagestick Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Online Review July 4, 2007
• ABC Queensland review by radio presenters Steve Austin & Hilary Beaton
• Brisbane Stories 1996-2005 Artists in Boondall Wetlands - 2002