Name: Embattled Adelaide Writers Week cancelled after controversy
Uploaded: 2026-01-13T06:47:56.394Z
Duration: 2 min 1 s
Description: Adelaide Writerss Week has been cancelled this year after a week of escalating controversy and multiple board resignations. It comes after over 100 writers resigned after the event rescinded its invitation Palestinian author Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah.

Adelaide Writerss Week has been cancelled this year after a week of escalating controversy and multiple board resignations. It comes after over 100 writers resigned after the event rescinded its invitation Palestinian author Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah.

Adelaide

Adelaide Writers Week will not proceed as scheduled this year after the Adelaide Festival Board announced its cancellation, citing a deeply regrettable outcome. The decision follows the withdrawal of over 180 writers in response to the board's decision to uninvite Australian-Palestinian author Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah, after seeking advice from the Premier regarding her previous comments on Zionism.

The controversy led to the resignation of the Festival Board Chair, three other board members, and Writers Week director Louise Adler. Calls for an independent inquiry into the Premier's involvement have emerged, and four new board members have been appointed to guide the festival, which is now six weeks away.

Embattled Adelaide Writers' Week cancelled after controversy

The crisis which has engulfed Adelaide Writers Week came to an abrupt climax this afternoon. The Adelaide Festival Board announced its position that the event can no longer go ahead as scheduled for this year, which it says is a deeply regrettable outcome. You know this is up to the event organisers, it's not a government run event. This is a terrible state of affairs and the Premier is up to his neck in it. More than 180 writers had already pulled out over the exclusion of Australian-Palestinian author Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah. She was uninvited by the board after it asked the Premier's advice and he expressed concerns about her previous comments relating to Zionism. He stood by his opinion today. I've got a responsibility I think to advocate against any rhetoric that I think inflames hate speech or Islamophobia or anti-Semitism. The backlash had already forced the resignation of the Chair and three other members of the Festival Board. Writers Week director Louise Adler quit this morning, complaining former Premier Don Dunstan's vision of Adelaide as the Athens of the South is in danger of becoming Moscow on the Torrens. Calls for an inquiry are coming from across the political spectrum. In particular, this independent review should look at the political interference of the Premier. And the Premier needs to own up about what kind of advice was given to this independent body. The latest chapter of the Writers Week fiasco today prompted the remaining members of the Festival Board to quit as well, with the exception of the Adelaide City Council appointed representative. Four new board members, including former Chair Judy Potter, were named late this afternoon to step in to guide the festival, now just six weeks away. Alan Murrell, 10 News.

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