Writers puzzled after State Library Victoria cancels workshops for teens citing ‘child and cultural safety’

Poet Omar Sakr, who had his writing bootcamps at the State Library Victoria cancelled along with journalist Jinghua Qian and young adult author Alison Evans. Photograph: Isabella Moore

State Library Victoria has cancelled a series of writing events out of concerns over “child and cultural safety”, leaving some of the participants demanding an explanation.

The free annual writing bootcamps for teenagers, covering fiction, nonfiction, playwriting and poetry, were pulled suddenly from the library’s program last week, and in one writer’s case, just 24 hours before he was due to hold one of his teaching sessions.