When Woeser was a small child, her family moved to the Kham area of western Sichuan province. In 1988, she graduated from Southwest University for Nationalities in Chengdu with a degree in Chinese literature. She worked as a reporter in Kardzé and later worked in Lhasa. In 2003, she moved to Beijing because of political problems. Woeser is married to Wang Lixiong, a famous author. Lixiong often writes about Tibet. According to Reporters sans frontières, "Woeser is one of the few Tibetan authors and poets to write in Chinese." Because the government refused to give Woeser a passport, Woeser sued the government.