Overview
- The Adelaide Festival Board removed Palestinian-Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah from the Writers’ Week lineup, saying her past statements made her appearance insensitive so soon after the Bondi shootings.
- The board stressed it was not linking Abdel-Fattah or her work to the Bondi attack and announced a board-led review with a new subcommittee to guide near-term decisions for Writers’ Week.
- A wave of participants withdrew in protest, including Michelle de Kretser, Melissa Lucashenko, Yanis Varoufakis, Peter Greste and Evelyn Araluen, with others indicating they would boycott unless she is reinstated.
- Independent think tank The Australia Institute pulled its support and sponsored events, saying cancelling authors undermines open exchange of ideas.
- Abdel-Fattah denounced the decision as anti-Palestinian racism and censorship, while South Australia’s premier expressed support for the board’s stance.