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 A ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, 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 19,8 ...

in the

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers ...

region of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, and grew up on a farm in nearby

Korumburra Korumburra is a town in the Australian state of Victoria. It is located on the South Gippsland Highway, south-east of Melbourne, in the South Gippsland Shire local government area. At the Korumburra had an urban population of 3,639. Surroun ...

Academia and early career

Watson studied for his undergraduate degree at

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria an ...

and latterly completed PhD at

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

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 race; as well as the stu ...

. He wrote three books on

Australian history The history of Australia is the story of the land and peoples of the continent of Australia. Aboriginal Australians, People first arrived on the Australian mainland by sea from Maritime Southeast Asia between 50,000 and 65,000 years ago, and ...

before turning his hand to TV and the

stage Stage or stages may refer to: 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 British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

. For several years he combined writing

political satire Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where s ...

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 Tea ...

with political speeches for the then

Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government in the Australian state of Victoria. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assembly ...

, 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 heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...

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

'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, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

, in recent years he has also written

feature films A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

, including ''

The Man Who Sued God ''The Man Who Sued God'' is a 2001 Australian comedy film starring Billy Connolly and Judy Davis, and directed by Mark Joffe. The film was a financial success, debuting at number one at the Australian box office in the week of its launch. Plot ...

'', starring

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...

and

Judy Davis Judith Davis (born 23 April 1955) is an Australian actress in film, television, and on stage. With a career spanning over 40 years, she has been commended for her versatility and regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation. Frequen ...

, 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 lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long an ...

starring

Richard Roxburgh Richard Roxburgh (born 23 January 1962) is an Australian actor, writer, producer, and director. He is the recipient of a number of accolades across film, television, and theatre, including three AACTA Awards (including AFI), three Logie Awards, ...

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 pastoralist, and perpetrator of several of the Gippsland massacres of Gunai people. Arriving first in New South Wales in 1838, McMillan rose swiftly in Au ...

as a leader of several massacres of

Gunai Kurnai people The Gunaikurnai or Gunai/Kurnai ( ) people, also referred to as the Gunnai or Kurnai, are an Aboriginal Australian nation of south-east Australia. They are the Traditional Custodians of most of present-day Gippsland and much of the southern slop ...

, 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, t ...

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. Initially, two awar ...

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. Winne ...

. ''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 northe ...

'' 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 p ...

Redfern Park Speech

In '' Recollections of a Bleeding Heart'', Watson described his writing of the

Redfern Park Speech The Redfern Park Speech, also known as the Redfern speech or Redfern address, was made on 10 December 1992 by the then Australian Prime Minister, Paul Keating, at Redfern Park, which is in Redfern, New South Wales, an inner city suburb of Sydne ...

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 rep ...

.Konrad Marshall
"Lunch with Don Watson"
''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

'', 3 October 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2016

Bibliography

*''Brian Fitzpatrick: A Radical Life'' (1978) Hale & Iremonger *''Caledonia Australis'' (1984) William Collins *''Story of Australia'' (1984) McPhee Gribble *'' Recollections of a Bleeding Heart: A Portrait of Paul Keating PM'' (2002) *''Death Sentence: The Decay of Public Language'' (2003) *''Watson's Dictionary of Weasel Words: Contemporary Cliches, Cant and Management Jargon'' (2004) *''American Journeys'' (2008) *''On Indignation'' (2008) Melbourne University Press *''Bendable Learnings. The Wisdom of Modern Management''. Sydney, Knopf. (2009) *''Worst Words: A compendium of contemporary cant, gibberish and jargon.'' Vintage Australia (2015) * *''A Single Tree'' (2016) Penguin Australia *''There it is again: Collected Writings'' (2018) Vintage *''The Passion of Private White'' (2022) Scribner

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 radio program that has been broadcast on Radio National by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation since 1992. The first presenter was Geraldine Doogue, and Hilary Harper and Michael MacKenzie present the program. Histor ...

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 co ...

Sounds of Australia The Sounds of Australia, formerly the National Registry of Recorded Sound, is the National Film and Sound Archive's selection of sound recordings which are deemed to have cultural, historical and aesthetic significance and relevance for Australi ...

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 humorists 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 Cultural critics La Trobe University alumni Living people Monash University alumni People from Warragul Australian social commentators Social critics Walkley Award winners Writers from Victoria (Australia) Australian male television writers