Overview
- The board said it would not be culturally sensitive to program Abdel-Fattah so soon after the Bondi mass shooting, citing her past statements.
- It added her work had no link to the tragedy and confirmed her profile was taken down the morning she was advised she would not appear.
- A new subcommittee will oversee a board-led review of Writers’ Week with input from government agencies and external experts.
- The South Australian premier backed the board’s decision as The Australia Institute withdrew its sponsorship and events.
- Authors including Michelle de Kretser, Melissa Lucashenko, Peter Greste, Yanis Varoufakis, Evelyn Araluen, Amy McQuire, Clare Wright, Chelsea Watego, Bernadette Brennan and Amy Remeikis pulled out in protest, and Abdel-Fattah called the move racist censorship.