Overview
- This year’s festival remains cancelled after about 180 of roughly 240 speakers withdrew in protest, prompting the director and board resignations.
- Under new leadership, the Adelaide Festival Corporation retracted the exclusion of Randa Abdel‑Fattah, issued an unreserved apology, and invited her to appear in 2027.
- Abdel‑Fattah said she accepts the apology and will consider the 2027 invitation, while continuing defamation action signaled by a concerns notice to Premier Peter Malinauskas.
- Malinauskas denies directing the board and defends his public comments as guided by compassion following the Bondi attack.
- The new board, chaired by Judy Potter, apologized to former director Louise Adler, scrapped a planned oversight subcommittee, and affirmed curatorial independence for Writers’ Week.