Samantha is a Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal woman, from Badu and Moa Islands in the Torres Strait and the Yadhaigana and Wuthathi peoples of Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. She is the proud author of Life Blong Ali Drummond: A Life in the Torres Strait, (Aboriginal Studies Press, July 2007) and editor of Pamle: Torres Strait Islanders in Canberra (2018).

Her poetry and short stories are published nationally and internationally. Her poetry has been translated in French, Indian and South Korean. She is a member of the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Network and MARION (ACT Writers). She is Treasurer, First Nations Australia Writers Network, ACT Torres Strait Islander Corporation and Us Mob Writing Group.

She was the inaugural Torres Strait Islander curator for the 2023 Brisbane Writers Festival and is Editor of Growing Up Torres Strait Islander in Australia edition, Black Inc due in early 2024.