More than 30 authors have withdrawn from a high-profile Australian literary festival after Palestinian advocate Randa Abdel-Fattah was removed from its guest line-up.
The Adelaide Festival board made the decision to remove Dr Abdel-Fattah from next month’s Adelaide Writers’ Week program without notifying the event’s director, Louise Adler, or her team.
The decision was criticised in an email sent to authors by event staff, which was signed off “best wishes during dark days”.
The email stated the board’s decision “is absolutely not supported by the Writers’ Week team and that our support sits with Dr Abdel-Fattah being a valued participant in Adelaide Writers’ Week”.
Prominent authors, including international writers Zadie Smith, M Gessen and Yanis Varoufakis, are among more than 30 writers who have withdrawn their participation.
High-profile journalist and media freedom advocate Peter Greste, who was imprisoned in Egypt for 400 days, has also pulled out.
“We don’t help social cohesion by silencing voices. I was to appear, but if the Festival sticks with this decision, I’m out,” Greste wrote on X.
In a letter to the Adelaide Festival board, Greste said, “I have read the board’s statement with dismay and concern. Writers’ festivals are grounded in the principles of free and open discussion. They are places for the open exchange of ideas, regardless of how uncomfortable they may appear to some.”
“As a journalist and media freedom activist, I have always argued for the free exchange of ideas however uncomfortable they may be. With that in mind, I am sure you will appreciate that I can no longer take part in the festival while Randa is off the program.”
In a statement released on Thursday, the Adelaide Festival board said it had advised Abdel-Fattah that it had “formed the judgment that we do not wish to proceed with her scheduled appearance at next month’s Writers’ Week”.
“Whilst we do not suggest in any way that Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah’s or her writings have any connection with the tragedy at Bondi, given her past statements we have formed the view that it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to program her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi,” the board said.
Other authors withdrawing in protest include two-time Miles Franklin Award winner Michelle de Kretser, Stella Prize-winning poet Evelyn Araluen, and Miles Franklin and Walkley Award-winning writer Melissa Lucashenko.
Professor Clare Wright, Jane Caro, Hannah Ferguson, Amy Remeikis, Chelsea Watego and Bernadette Brennan are also among those boycotting the festival.
Bri Lee and Hannah Kent released statements saying they would withdraw unless Adelaide Writers’ Week reverses its decision and reinstates Abdel-Fattah.
“Adelaide Writers’ Week has always held great personal significance for me as a writer and as a South Australian. I know it to historically be an open and accessible event that welcomes the free exchange of perspectives and ideas, and celebrates our collective humanity,” Kent said.
“I am appalled by the Adelaide Festival Board’s decision to remove Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah from this year’s program. It is a gross act of discrimination and censorship I can in no way agree with, and I will be therefore be withdrawing from this year’s Adelaide Writers’ Week unless Dr Abdel-Fattah’s place in the program is reinstated.”
The boycott follows a similar controversy at the Bendigo Writers Festival in 2025, where more than 50 authors withdrew after a code of conduct was introduced to censor discussion of the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
In a statement, Abdel-Fattah said she expected continued support from the writing community.
“After two years of Israel’s live-streamed genocide of Palestinians, Australian arts and cultural institutions continue to reveal their utter contempt and inhumanity towards Palestinians,” she said.
“The only Palestinians they will tolerate are silent and invisible ones.
“I remain confident that the writing community and the broader public will ultimately respond with principle and integrity, as they did when I was singled out in the same racist way during the Bendigo Writers Festival,”
“In the end, the Adelaide Writers Festival will be left with panellists who demonise a Palestinian out of one side of their mouths while waxing lyrical about freedom of speech from the other.”
An Adelaide Festival spokesperson confirmed the decision to remove Abdel-Fattah was made solely by the board, despite Writers’ Week staff developing the program.
“The board has been reviewing its program in recent weeks, leading to these announced decisions,” the spokesperson said.
“The board has received letters of complaint about Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah but will not be publishing this correspondence.”
Advocacy group Readers and Writers Against the Genocide said it expected more authors to withdraw in the coming days and has called on members of the public to boycott the free festival.
Abdel-Fattah was scheduled to appear on a panel discussing her latest novel, Discipline, in conversation with Richard Buckham.
Local Adelaide booksellers, including Goodwood Books, Matilda Bookshop and Imprints, have publicly expressed support for Abdel-Fattah and promoted copies of Discipline.
Imprints Booksellers on Hindley Street said it was currently sold out of the novel but “of course have more on order”.
“I hope we can all get behind this author, and the others who have already pulled out of AWW in support,” the bookseller wrote on Instagram.
Images: Instagram
