Adelaide Writers' Week cancelled, remaining board members resign after author controversy

The Adelaide Writers' Week has been cancelled and all remaining members of the Adelaide Festival board have stepped down after the disastrous fallout from the decision to dump Australian-Palestinian writer Randa Abdel-Fattah from the event.

Board chair Tracey Whiting, board members Donny Walford, Nicholas Linke, and Daniela Ritorto, and Adelaide Writers' Week director Louise Adler all resigned this week and more than 180 local and international writers withdrew from next month's event after the board uninvited Abdel-Fattah over cultural sensitivities in the wake of the Bondi attack.

This afternoon, the Adelaide Festival board shared its regret over the decision, which it said only created more division, and apologised to Abdel-Fattah.

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"We recognise and deeply regret the distress this decision has caused to our audience, artists and writers, donors, corporate partners, the government and our own staff and people," it said this afternoon.

"We also apologise to Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah for how the decision was represented and reiterate this is 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 following Australia's worst terror attack in history."

The board said all remaining members will step down today, except for an Adelaide City Council representative whose term expires on February 2, to allow for a new board to be formed.

"The focus is now on ensuring a successful Adelaide Festival proceeds in a way which safeguards the long and rich cultural legacy of our state but also protects the hardworking staff delivering this important event," the board said.

The board said the Adelaide Writers' Week "can no longer go ahead as scheduled this year" in what it said was a "deeply regrettable outcome".

The annual event is world-renowned and draws in dozens of local and international writers and more than 160,000 attendees each year.

The organisation plummeted into what it said was a "complex and unprecedented moment" after cancelling Abdel-Fattah's scheduled appearance on January 8.

"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 in a statement.

Abdel-Fattah previously made comments against Zionists, saying they are "murderous" and have "no claim or right to cultural safety".

More than 180 writers, including former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Percival Everett, Booker Prize-shortlisted British author Zadie Smith and former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, pulled out of the event in protest.

Abdel-Fattah has since engaged lawyers as she seeks an explanation for the decision to cancel her scheduled event.

In a letter to the board, Marque Lawyers managing director Michael Bradley wrote that Abdel-Fattah was not aware her participation was under question until she received notice she had been removed on January 8.

The notice also failed to mention that her past statements contributed to their decision.

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Director accuses board of going over her head

Adler accused the board of ignoring her in a letter published in The Guardian earlier today.

"The Adelaide festival board's decision – despite my strongest opposition – to disinvite the Australian Palestinian writer Randa Abdel-Fattah from Adelaide writers' week weakens freedom of speech and is the harbinger of a less free nation, where lobbying and political pressure determine who gets to speak and who doesn't," she said.

"I cannot be party to silencing writers so, with a heavy heart, I am resigning from my role as the director of the AWW.

"Writers and writing matters, even when they are presenting ideas that discomfort and challenge us."

Adler said artists are being stifled as a result of increasing pressure from "pro-Israel lobbyists, bureaucrats and opportunistic politicians", adding that there have never been any major issues from attendees in the event's 65-year history.

"Hence, in 2026, the board, in an atmosphere of intense political pressure, has issued an edict that an author is to be cancelled," she said.

"AWW is the canary in the coalmine."

The Jewish Council of Australia said it supported Adler and Abdel-Fattah, saying the group "stand against this retrograde decision and with the countless authors withdrawing in support of Randa and her work".

The former director was the fifth resignation this week, following the three board members and the chair.

Whiting said "recent decisions were bound by certain undertakings" and her departure allows the organisation to "refresh its leadership and its approach to these circumstances".

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Premier chokes back tears as he's questioned over fallout

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas had offered his opinion to the board in support of removing Abdel-Fattah from the event, but said he did not instruct them to do so.

At a press conference this afternoon, he became emotional as he was questioned about the continued fallout of Adelaide Writers' Week, as well as former Adelaide United midfielder Josh Cavallo accusing the club of internal homophobia, this afternoon.

"On all these things, I do my best to settle my conscience and offer a view that I believe is consistent with the interests of compassion and advancing the cause of people treating each other with decency and humanity, regardless of their background," he said while choking back tears.

In 2023, Malinauskas admitted he was upset by one writer's social media posts and thought about withdrawing funding from the Adelaide Writers' Week, but decided against interfering with the program.

"(When) politicians decide what is culturally appropriate… it leads us to a future in which politicians can directly stifle events that are themselves predicated on freedom of speech and the expression of ideas," he said.

"A path, in fact, that leads us into the territory of Putin's Russia."

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