Samuel Wagan Watson, The Curse Words

Samuel Wagan Watson (born 1972) is a contemporary Indigenous Australian poet. He was born in Brisbane, his family isIrish, 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. His first collection of poetry was called Of muse, meandering and midnight and it won the David Unaipon Award for emerging Indigenous writers. It also received a Highly Commended in both the Anne Elder Awards and the 2000 Award for Outstanding Contributions to Australian Culture. Wagan Watson then released the collections Itinerant Blues and Hotel Bone. Smoke-Encrypted Whispers has just won the NSW Premier’s Literary Award for Book of the Year and Best fiction.

Rare Object Number 60.
12 pages. Published 2011.
Cover image by Kay Orchison.