Adelaide Writers' Week has been accused of "promoting extremist views" by providing a stage to an author who has been vocal against Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
But festival director Louise Adler said the event had a long history of welcoming debate and civil discussion, which would not change in 2023.
Association of Ukraine of South Australia president Frank Fursenko said he was dismayed by the scheduling of Palestinian-American author Susan Abulhawa at the festival in March.
Over the past year since the war began, Ms Abulhawa has tweeted views opposing Mr Zelenskyy's motives and handling of the war.
"Zelenskyy would rather drag the world into the inferno of World War III, instead of giving up NATO ambitions. He would rather pull us all into slaughter than allow Ukraine to prosper as a neutral nation," she tweeted in March last year.
Mr Fursenko said her views contradicted what most had felt about Ukraine's position.
"[Ukraine] has just been invaded and everyone can see every day on television what the Russians are doing and anyone who reads the paper knows there's about 20,000 war crimes investigations going on around the country," Mr Fursenko told ABC Radio Adelaide's Stacey Lee and David Bevan.
"Furthermore, Susan says 'this man is no hero, he's mad and far more dangerous than Putin'. Now, who invaded who?
"This is coming from a woman who is going to be given a stage here to espouse her particular point of view.
"This is totally in contrast to virtually any other comment that I've heard about Zelenskyy and about Ukraine's position."
Festival doesn't 'cancel' people with differing opinions
But Ms Adler argued Adelaide Writers' Week often scheduled authors who shared differing points of view in a bid to promote healthy debate and discussion.
"The important question here is whether you say that all views conveyed with consideration and civility are worth hearing or not," she said.
"Adelaide Writers' Week is not in the business of cancelling people whose opinions may be objectionable to other groups or individuals."
She listed a number of writers with differing views from Ms Abulhawa on the war, who are also scheduled to make an appearance at this year's event.
They include Nobel Laureate Svetlana Alexievich, who has written extensively about the history of Russia and its political culture, and Ukrainian writers Maria Tumarkin, Olesya Khromeychuk and Kateryna Babkina.
"They are Ukrainian writers who are passionate defenders and critics of the invasion and they are all living in exile," she said.
"Our business is to operate an open space, not a safe space, but an open space, in which ideas that may be confronting, disturbing, provocative, are debated with civility, that's the agenda, that's the brief."
But Mr Fursenko accused Ms Adler of being a "useful idiot" in Russia's propaganda machine.
"To have people espouse extremist views is not a good idea, especially if it is under the cover of a prestigious event like Adelaide Writers' Week, for the simple reason that this gives them a status many of them shouldn't have," Mr Fursenko said.
In response Ms Adler was defiant that Ms Abulhawa would appear as scheduled.
"Adelaide Writers' Week has a long history of welcoming debate and civil discussion and we will continue that tradition in 2023," she said.
Opposition wants speaker cancelled
South Australian opposition spokesman John Gardner called on Premier Peter Malinauskas to intervene and cancel the appearances of the two speakers.
"There's a very clear difference between a provocative debate, and Writer's Week always has a wide range of speakers," Mr Gardner said.
"None of them bleed into hate speech or Russian propaganda and I think that's what is quite distinctive.
"What's galling I think to many people is the idea that South Australian taxpayer dollars would go to providing a platform to some of the spreading of that propaganda."
He compared it to people spreading vaccine misinformation on stage at a public health program.
"We're not talking about two equal sides of the same coin," he said.
"We're not talking about two arguments with similar weight.
"We're talking about what is rightly described by many as hate speech and there shouldn't be a publicly funded platform for that to be taking place."
In response, Mr Malinauskas said he was "surprised" by the move.
"I've got to be frank, I'm surprised that they're being facilitated at Adelaide Writers' Week, but that's an independent organisation," he said.
"But the state government and I personally completely reject the remarks from this particular author.
"There is a distinction between provoking thought and facilitating the spreading of a message that simply doesn't accord with basic human values and that is worthy of contemplation, I think, for Writers' Week."
