One of South Australia's premier cultural events has been plunged into turmoil following a controversial programming decision that has triggered a boardroom exodus and a mass boycott by authors.
Board Collapse After Contentious Decision
Adelaide Festival Board Chair Tracey Whiting has resigned, alongside three fellow directors, in the wake of escalating backlash over the removal of Palestinian-Australian advocate and author Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah from the 2026 Writers' Week lineup. Whiting, a prominent cultural figure appointed by the Malinauskas Government in 2023, tendered her resignation over the weekend, directly notifying the state government.
Board members Daniela Ritorto, Donny Walford and Nicholas Linke OAM have also walked away. Their departures followed a tense board meeting on Saturday, with their names subsequently removed from the festival's official website. This mass resignation leaves just three directors and a government observer in place, raising serious questions about the event's governance.
Fallout From Author's Removal
The crisis erupted last Thursday when the board voted to pull Dr Abdel-Fattah from this year's program. The stated reason was that including her so soon after the Bondi mass shooting would not be "culturally sensitive." The author was scheduled to discuss her new novel Discipline, which follows the lives of two Muslim girls.
The response from the literary community was swift and severe. In a powerful act of protest, approximately 100 of the 124 writers originally scheduled to appear have now withdrawn. This list includes high-profile names such as ABC journalist Louise Milligan, Miles Franklin winners Michelle de Kretser and Melissa Lucashenko, bestselling author Trent Dalton, and former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.
Writer and academic Jane Caro, who also pulled out, condemned the move as "an attack on the very things that make writers festivals the amazing events they are." She stated her opposition to censoring writers who tackle complex issues and warned against the rise of authoritarianism.
Accusations of Racism and Political Backing
In a statement on social media, Dr Abdel-Fattah labelled the board's action a "blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship." She vehemently rejected any implied association with the Bondi tragedy, arguing the decision reduced her to an object of racist projection. She noted she and about 50 other writers had previously withdrawn from the Bendigo Writers' Festival over similar censorship concerns.
Premier Peter Malinauskas has insisted the board remains operational but defended the decision to remove Abdel-Fattah. He linked it to her anti-Zionist views, stating she had crossed "a line" by advocating against the cultural safety of others. He referenced a 2024 social media post in which Abdel-Fattah argued Zionists had "no claim or right to cultural safety."
The Premier's intervention has intensified the controversy, framing the issue around specific political views rather than broad cultural sensitivity. Meanwhile, the Writers' Week program has been taken down from the Adelaide Festival website entirely.
Adelaide Festival Corporation executive director Julian Hobba acknowledged the "complex and unprecedented moment" facing both Writers' Week and the broader Adelaide Festival, which is scheduled to run from February 27 to March 15. Writers' Week itself is set for February 28 to March 5. The event, which drew a record 160,000 attendees last year, now faces an uncertain future as organisers scramble to manage the fallout.
