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Top Australian writers' festival cancelled after Palestinian author barred
The removal of Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah led to nearly 100 participant withdrawals, multiple board resignations, and sponsor pullouts, effectively collapsing the Adelaide Writers' Week program.
- On Thursday, the Adelaide Festival board rescinded Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah's invitation, removing her from the Writers' Week line-up and taking down her profile from the Writers' Week website the same morning.
- After a weeks-long internal review of Writers' Week programming, the Adelaide Festival board said proceeding would not be culturally sensitive following the Bondi Beach terror attack and cited Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah's past statements.
- Since Abdel-Fattah's cancellation, more than 180 participants have withdrawn, including Jacinda Ardern, Zadie Smith, Percival Everett and Trent Dalton; Adelaide Writers' Week runs from February 28 to March 5.
- Following a crisis meeting, four of eight Adelaide Festival board members stepped down, including chairwoman Tracey Whiting, leaving only one man on the board and raising governance issues.
- With state funding at stake, Peter Malinauskas, South Australian Premier, and Madeleine King, Resources Minister, backed the board's decision while the Australia Institute withdrew support.
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82 Articles
Australia: Writers' festival called off amid boycott
The Adelaide Writers' Week retracted an invitation to an Australian-Palestinian author, citing the the Bondi Beach attack. Dozens, including the event's director and the former PM of New Zealand, withdrew in response.
·Bonn, Germany
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Festival of Cowardice: The Cancellation of Randa Abdel-Fattah
Randa Abdel-FattahBoards of directors are a funny bunch. Often lacking expertise, claiming knowledge they do not have and insight that never illuminates, its members can make the cockup the stuff of legend. Instead of minding their own business and leaving the Adelaide Writers’ Week to take place without incident as part of the 2026 Adelaide Festival, an act of oafish meddling took place. The meddling centred on removing one invited author from …
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Total News Sources82
Leaning Left29Leaning Right11Center15Last UpdatedBias Distribution53% Left
Bias Distribution
- 53% of the sources lean Left
53% Left
L 53%
C 27%
R 20%
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