Adelaide Writers’ Week: rare moments of empathy and nuance found amid a storm of controversy

Audiences at this year’s Adelaide Writers’ Week came with a sense of inquiry and a willingness to be possibly offended that drove a conversation through the whole festival. Photograph: Andrew Beveridge

Two policemen stood watching among the roses of Adelaide’s pioneer women’s memorial garden. Journalists and cameramen hovered. Heads turned as author Susan Abulhawa made her way to the stage. All seats for her talks at Adelaide Writers’ Week (AWW) had been snapped up long before, leaving stragglers to sit on damp grass. One man held a sign reading, “Free speech yes, hate speech no”, a Ukrainian flag in his hands. “I can’t believe how many people are here – it’s fantastic,” a complete stranger whispered to me. “Must be all of the publicity.”

All in all, as several people cheerfully told me over the course of the week, it made for the most lively AWW since feminists turned up to picket the poet Ted Hughes in 1976.