Adelaide Writers’ Week canceled after disinviting Palestinian Australian author

Adelaide Writers’ Week in South Australia was canceled on Tuesday after organizers disinvited Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah, a decision that prompted a broad boycott by scheduled participants. The festival board said Abdel-Fattah’s presence would not be "culturally sensitive" so soon after a mass shooting at a Hanukkah gathering in Bondi Beach that authorities have called a terror attack; the attack killed 15 and injured scores, the report said.

In the days after the removal, about 180 of roughly 240 writers withdrew in protest, and authors including Zadie Smith, Percival Everett and former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern were reported among those who canceled. Half of the event’s eight-member board, including its chair, resigned, and the festival director, Louise Adler, said she was stepping down because she "cannot be party to silencing writers." The board apologized, saying the decision had "created more division" and that it was "not about identity or dissent but rather a continuing rapid shift in the national discourse around the breadth of freedom of expression in our nation," but Abdel-Fattah rejected the apology as "disingenuous." Organizers said the event could no longer go ahead as scheduled in late February.

Key Topics

Culture, Adelaide Writers Week, Bondi Beach, Mass Shooting, Randa Abdel-fattah, Louise Adler