Eleven former leaders of the Adelaide Festival have signed an open letter urging the festival board to reinstate Palestinian-Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah's invitation to Adelaide Writers' Week. The letter describes her exclusion as an "egregious incursion on free speech" and a "grave mistake" that should be reversed immediately.
Signatories include former Writers' Week director Jo Dyer, former chair Peter Goldsworthy, and recently departed CEO Kath Mainland, among others. The letter comes as dozens of authors withdraw from the festival in protest, raising questions about the event's feasibility.
The board withdrew Abdel-Fattah's invitation on Thursday, citing her past statements and determining it "would not be culturally sensitive to continue to program her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi." The decision was backed by Premier Peter Malinauskas, who said Abdel-Fattah had "advocated in writing explicitly against the cultural safety of those who believe in Zionism."
Abdel-Fattah, who was scheduled to discuss her novel Discipline, described the decision as "an extremely racist and obscene attempt to associate me with an atrocity." In a 2024 social media post, she had stated: "The goal is decolonisation and the end of this murderous Zionist colony."
The boycott includes prominent authors such as Miles Franklin winners Michelle de Kretser and Melissa Lucashenko, as well as Helen Garner, Trent Dalton, and Pulitzer Prize-winner Percival Everett. The former leaders' letter criticizes the board's lack of artists and calls the commitment to "promoting community cohesion" mere "double-speak."
The Jewish Community Council of South Australia had requested Abdel-Fattah's removal, expressing surprise at the support for her. The Adelaide Festival board has not commented since Thursday's decision and turned off social media comments for the weekend.
