Don Watson (born 1949) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, former political adviser, and speechwriter.

Early life

Watson was born in 1949 at

Warragul Warragul () is a town in Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne. Warragul lies between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Mount Baw Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range to the north. As of the , the town had a population of ...

in the

Gippsland Gippsland () is a rural region in the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains south of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers an elongated area of east of th ...

region of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, and grew up on a farm in nearby

Korumburra Korumburra is a town in the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It is located on the South Gippsland Highway, south-east of Melbourne, in the South Gippsland Shire local government area. At ...

Academia and early career

Watson studied for his undergraduate degree at

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

and latterly completed PhD at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

before spending ten years working as an academic

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

. He wrote three books on

Australian history The history of Australia is the history of the land and peoples which comprise the Commonwealth of Australia. The modern nation came into existence on 1 January 1901 as a federation of former British colonies. The human history of Australia, ...

before turning his hand to TV and the

stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...

. For several years he combined writing

political satire Political satire is a type of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics. Political satire can also act as a tool for advancing political arguments in conditions where political speech and dissent are banned. Political satir ...

for the actor

Max Gillies Maxwell Irvine Gillies AM (born 16 November 1941) is an Australian actor and a founding member of the 1970s experimental theatre company, the Australian Performing Group. Early life and education Gillies studied art teaching at Frankston Te ...

with political speeches for the then

Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government of the state of Victoria in Australia. The premier leads the Cabinet of Victoria and selects its ministers. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, must be a member of the Vic ...

, John Cain. In 1992, he became

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and trade unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996. He held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously ser ...

's speech-writer and adviser.

Screenwriting

In addition to regular books, articles and

essays An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

, in recent years he has also written

feature films A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film ( motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation ...

, including '' The Man Who Sued God'', starring

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, musician, television presenter, artist and retired stand-up comedian. He is sometimes known by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his idiosyncratic and of ...

and

Judy Davis Judith Davis (born 23 April 1955) is an Australian actress. In a career spanning over four decades of both List of Judy Davis performances, screen and stage, she has been commended for her versatility and regarded as one of the finest actresses ...

, and '' Passion'', a film about

Percy Grainger Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who moved to the United States in 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long and ...

starring

Richard Roxburgh Richard Roxburgh (born 23 January 1962) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of a number of accolades across film, television, and theatre, including several AFI and AACTA Awards, Logie Awards, and Helpmann Awards. He bega ...

Prizes and recognition

Watson's historical work in exposing the role of pioneer pastoralist

Angus McMillan Angus McMillan (14 August 1810 – 18 May 1865) was a Scottish-born explorer, pioneer pastoralism, pastoralist, and perpetrator of several of the Gippsland massacres of Gunai people. Arriving first in New South Wales in 1838, McMillan rose sw ...

as a leader of several massacres of

Gunai Kurnai people The Kurnai () people Aboriginal Australian nation of south-east Australia. They are the Traditional Custodians of most of present-day Gippsland and much of the southern slopes of the Victorian Alps. The Kurnai nation is composed of five major ...

, Victoria, has often been quoted in articles about the man and the massacres. In 2014 ''The Bush: Travels in the Heart of Australia'' was published to critical acclaim for its content and for the beauty and effectiveness of Watson's writing. It won Book of the Year in the

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...

in 2015. ''American Journeys'' was awarded both

The Age Book of the Year ''The Age'' Book of the Year Awards were annual literary awards presented by Melbourne's ''The Age'' newspaper. The awards were first presented in 1974. After 1998, they were presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival Melbourne Writer ...

non-fiction and Book of the Year awards in 2008. It also won the 2008

Walkley Book Award The Walkley Book Award is an Australian award presented annually by the Walkley Foundation for excellence in long-form journalism and nonfiction, with subjects ranging from biography to true crime to investigative journalism and reporting. Win ...

. ''Death Sentence'', his book about the decay of public language, won the Australian Booksellers Association Book of the Year in 2008. '' Recollections of a Bleeding Heart: A Portrait of Paul Keating PM'' published in 2002 was awarded both

and non-fiction Prizes, the ''

Courier-Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner norther ...

'' Book of the Year, the National Biography Award and the Australian Literary Studies Association's Book of the Year. Watson's 2001 Quarterly Essay ''Rabbit Syndrome: Australia and America'' won the inaugural Alfred Deakin Prize in the

Victorian Premier's Literary Awards The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary ...

. Watson, together with

Rachel Perkins Rachel Perkins (born 1970) is an Indigenous Australian film and television director, producer, and screenwriter. She founded and was co-director of the independent film production company Blackfella Films from 1992 until 2022. Perkins and the ...

, Jacob Hickey and Darren Dale, won the 2023 Digital History Prize,

New South Wales Premier's History Awards The NSW Premier's History Awards honour distinguished achievement in the interpretation of history, through both the written word and non-print media by Australian citizens and permanent residents of Australia. History The State Government of New ...

for '' The Australian Wars'', Episode 1.

Redfern Park Speech

In '' Recollections of a Bleeding Heart'', Watson described his writing of the Redfern Park Speech in 1992, which, he claims, by way of praising Keating for his courage, the Prime Minister delivered without changing a single word. Keating has disputed Watson's authorship, saying the speech developed out of dozens of conversations between them.

Personal life

Watson is divorced from the publisher Hilary McPhee. He has an adult daughter from an earlier marriage, and two young children with the writer

Chloe Hooper Chloe Melisande Hooper (born 1973) is an Australian author. Her first novel, '' A Child's Book of True Crime'' (2002), was short-listed for the Orange Prize for Literature and was a ''New York Times'' Notable Book. In 2005, she turned to repo ...

.Konrad Marshall
"Lunch with Don Watson"
''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

'', 3 October 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2016

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Don Watson at Perth Writers' Festival 2010
ABC Big Ideas * Don Watson's author profile a
Penguin Books AustraliaDon Watson at Random House Australia''The Unknown Soldier'' SpeechDon Watson on speech-making in American politics
on SlowTV

MWF session with David Sedaris and David Rakoff

on ABC Radio

Life Matters ''Life Matters'' is a magazine-style radio program that has been broadcast on Radio National by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation since 1992. The first presenter was Geraldine Doogue, and the program is presented Monday to Thursday by Te ...

Talking about ''Recollections of a Bleeding Heart''
Romana Koval – ABC Radio * Watch a recording of th
Redfern Address
o
australianscreen online
* The Redfern Address was added to the

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

Sounds of Australia The Sounds of Australia, formerly the National Registry of Recorded Sound, is the National Film & Sound Archive's selection of sound recordings deemed culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant and relevant for Australia. It was fo ...

registry in 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Don 1949 births 20th-century Australian non-fiction writers 21st-century Australian non-fiction writers Australian essayists Australian historians Australian literary critics Australian male dramatists and playwrights Australian male non-fiction writers Australian memoirists Australian political writers Australian satirists Australian screenwriters Australian television writers Australian travel writers La Trobe University alumni Living people Monash University alumni People from Warragul Walkley Award winners Writers from Victoria (state) Australian male television writers Speechwriters