Call this social cohesion? The six-day war of words that laid waste to the 2026 Adelaide writers’ festival

How a boardroom flare-up sparked an international boycott – and a looming defamation battle

It began as a quiet programming dispute in the genteel city of churches.

But by Wednesday morning, a frantic, six-day war of words had culminated in the end of the 2026 Adelaide writers’ week and total institutional collapse.