The Adelaide Writers' Week has plummeted into even further disarray after its director resigned over the board's decision to dump an Australian-Palestinian author from the event.
In a letter published in The Guardian, Louise Adler accused the Adelaide Festival Board of going over her head to uninvite Randa Abdel-Fattah due to cultural insensitivities in light of the December 14 attack at Bondi Beach, which triggered more than 180 writers to withdraw in protest.
"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.
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"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 is the fifth resignation this week, following Adelaide Festival Board members Donny Walford, Nicholas Linke, and Daniela Ritorto and chair Tracey Whiting.
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".
Adler confirmed 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, have pulled out of Adelaide Writers' Week following the board's decision.
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It is unclear if the event, which runs from February 28 to March 5, will be able to go ahead as planned this year.
Adelaide Festival Corporation executive director Julian Hobba said the organisation is "navigating a complex and unprecedented moment" following extraordinary backlash over the board's decision last week to cancel Abdel-Fattah's appearance.
"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 on January 8.
Abdel-Fattah previously made comments against Zionists, saying they are"murderous" and have "no claim or right to cultural safety".
The writer 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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South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas offered his opinion to the board in support of removing Abdel-Fattah from the event, but said he did not instruct them to remove her from the event.
In 2023, he 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."
Malinauskas 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.
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