WATSON, Samuel Wagan 1972-

PERSONAL:

Born 1972, in Brisbane, Australia; son of Sam Watson (an author and activist).

ADDRESSES:

Home—Brisbane, Australia.

CAREER:

Writer and public-arts manager. Has worked variously as a salesman, public relations officer, fraud investigator, graphic artist, laborer, law clerk, film industry technician, and actor.

AWARDS, HONORS:

David Unaipon Award for Emerging Indigenous Writers, 1999, Award for Outstanding Contributions to Australian Culture, 2000, and National Literary Awards from the Fellowship of Australian Writers, 2001, all for Of Muse, Meandering, and Midnight; New South Wales Premier's Literary Award for Book of the Year and Best Fiction, for Smoke-Encrypted Whispers.

WRITINGS:

POETRY COLLECTIONS

Of Muse, Meandering, and Midnight, University of Queensland Press (St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia), 2000.

Itinerant Blues, University of Queensland Press (St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia), 2002.

Smoke-Encrypted Whispers, University of Queensland Press (St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS:

Samuel Wagan Watson was born in Brisbane, Australia, of Irish, German, and aboriginal descent. He grew up very aware of his indigenous heritage; both his father and grandfather were activists for their people, and his great-grandfather, who had been sold to a white station owner in Queensland, was later one of the first aboriginals to be freed with the passage of the Aboriginal Protection Act. Watson worked a variety of jobs over the course of his career, but writing was always his first love. His debut collection of poetry, Of Muse, Meandering, and Midnight, won several awards, and Watson was the first indigenous poet to win the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, which he earned for Smoke-Encrypted Whispers.

Watson's work makes use of local imagery and Brisbane dialect, rooting his poetry in his culture and heritage. In a review of Smoke-Encrypted Whispers for Antipodes, Michael Farrell remarked: "Watson's assurance allows him looseness and daring, as if his motto were cadence is mine sayeth the lord. This is occasionally the undoing of his brilliant phrasing and imagery, emphasized in his titles, when it leads him to state the obvious." Farrell concluded, however, that "Watson is on the way to being an urban legend." Southerly critic Terry Whitebeach commented on the poet's second collection, Itinerant Blues: "These poems snare you with their courage and honesty, their everyday elegant economy and the laconic, understated, informal tone which characterizes Australian English at its best."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Antipodes, June, 2005, Michael Farrell, "Urban Legends," review of Smoke-Encrypted Whispers, p. 107.

Southerly, summer, 2002, Terry Whitebeach, "Brevity and Precision," review of Itinerant Blues, p. 164.

World Literature Today, July-August, 2006, Kathleen Flanagan, review of Smoke-Encrypted Whispers, p. 74.

ONLINE

ABC Queensland Web site,http://www.abc.net.au/queensland/ (August 17, 2005), brief biography of Samuel Wagan Watson.

Age Online,http://www.theage.com.au/ (June 24, 2002), David McCooey, "The Sources of Poetic Power."

Australian Humanities Review, http://www.lit.latrobe.e.du.au/ (August-October, 2004), Anita Heiss, review of Smoke-Encrypted Whispers.

Booked Out Web site,http://www.bookedout.com.au/ (October 10, 2006), brief biography of Samuel Wagan Watson.

Brisbane Stories Web site,http://www.brisbane-stories.powerup.com.au/ (October 10, 2006), brief biography of Samuel Wagan Watson.

Brisbane Writers Festival 2005 Web site,http://www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au/ (October 10, 2006), brief biography of Samuel Wagan Watson.

Byron Bay Writers Festival Web site,http://www.byronbaywritersfestival.com.au/ (October 10, 2006), brief biography of Samuel Wagan Watson.

Dotlit.com, http://www.dotlit.qut.edu.au/ (August 8, 2001), Carmen Leigh Keates, review of Of Muse, Meandering, and Midnight.

Goethe Institute Web site,http://goethe.de/ (October 10, 2006), brief biography of Samuel Wagan Watson.

Jacket Online,http://www.jacketmagazine.com/ (April 1, 2005), Angela Rockel, review of Smoke-Encrypted Whispers.

Show and Tell Promotions Online,http://www.showtell.com.au/ (October 10, 2006), brief biography of Samuel Wagan Watson.

University of Queensland Press,http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/ (October 10, 2006), brief biography of Samuel Wagan Watson.

Vibe Australia Online,http://www.vibe.com.au/ (January 8, 2005), "Poetry in Motion."*