Samuel Wagan Watson was born in Brisbane. Completed secondary studies in Morayfield State High School where his lawyer sister Nicole also completed her secondary education. Whilst living in Caboolture West with his mother an Anglo-Australian and father Sam Watson Jnr.
His family is Irish, German, Bundjalung and Birri Gubba.
His father is the novelist and political activist, Sam Watson.
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 indigenous 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 Civil Defense 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. His poetry collection Smoke Encrypted Whispers has been set to music by 23 Brisbane-based composers who each wrote a two-minute piece to respond to a particular poem.
The project was commissioned by the clarinetist Paul Dean, who conducted a recording of the work with the narrator Ron Haddrick, the soprano Margaret Schindler, and the Southern Cross Soloists. The Japanese Aeronautical Exploration Agency has commissioned Watson to write some haiku to keep Japanese astronauts amused on the International Space Station.
1999 - Queensland Premier"s Literary Awards, David Unaipon Award for an Emerging Indigenous Writers for Of Muse, Meandering and Midnight.
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.
When asked in interview who had influenced him, Samuel Watson recognised the influence of his parents, and listed also Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski and Robert Adamson.
