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The Latest Breaking News from Fattah

What is the future of Australia’s embattled writers festivals?

For more than 65 years, book lovers have descended on Adelaide every summer for Australia’s longest running literary festival. That is, until this year, when around 180 invited authors (including me) boycotted Adelaide Writers Week, following the board’s decision to “uninvite” Palestinian-Australian author Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah. The festival was cancelled.

The Conversation

Palestinian author to appear at rebel literary event

Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah will appear at a last-minute alternative to the now-cancelled Adelaide Writers' Week.

AAP

Adelaide writers’ week was cancelled two weeks ago. ‘Not Writers’ Week’ is determined to do things differently

Constellations – or ‘Not Writers’ Week’ – has been pulled together by a grassroots coalition of authors who have turned ‘heartbreak’ into a community-led event – and one that won’t police speakers’ social media

The Guardian - AU

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South Australian premier urged Adelaide Writers’ Week board to drop Palestinian writer, letter reveals

Malinauskas urged the festival board to drop Palestinian author Randa Abdel-Fattah, warning of public backlash

The Independent UK

SA premier ‘fundamentally opposed’ Randa Abdel-Fattah appearing at Adelaide writers’ week, letter to board shows

Three-page letter acknowledged that while Peter Malinauskas could not direct festival board, he was ‘deeply concerned’ Palestinian Australian author’s invitation not rescinded

The Guardian - AU

British indie band Pulp agree to play Adelaide festival after boycott U-turn

The band pulled out over treatment of Randa Abdel-Fattah but delayed revealing their decision before confirming 27 February gig

The Guardian - AU

Adelaide Festival Apologises To Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah & Invites Her To 2027 Writers’ Week

Adelaide Festival has issued an official apology to author Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah after disinviting her from Writers' Week.

Pedestrian.tv

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Adelaide festival apologises to Randa Abdel-Fattah and invites her to participate in 2027 writers’ week

Apology comes as former Adelaide festival board member accuses Louise Adler of hypocrisy after she resigned citing free speech concerns

The Guardian - AU

Teal MPs call out Coalition over stance on hate speech laws – as it happened

This blog is now closed

The Guardian - AU

Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah Launches Legal Action Against SA Premier For Defamation

“This was a vicious personal assault on me, a private citizen, by the highest public official in South Australia. It was defamatory and it terrified me,” Dr Abdel-Fattah claimed.

Pedestrian.tv

‘Masterclass in poor governance’: what was the board’s role in the end of Adelaide Writers Week?

This afternoon, Adelaide Writers Week was cancelled for 2026 – less than a week after Palestinian-Australian writer Randa Abdel-Fattah was disinvited by the Adelaide Festival board. This came despite the “strongest opposition” from Writers Week director Louise Adler, who resigned this morning. The board has announced its remaining members will…

The Conversation

Adelaide Writers’ Festival Cancelled & Apology Issued To Randa Abdel-Fattah

"This is a deeply regrettable outcome."

Pedestrian.tv

Major arts festival in doubt after Jacinda Ardern joins mass boycott over axing of Palestinian writer

More than 70 prominent figures are boycotting the Adelaide Festival for dropping Palestinian-Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah in the wake of the Bondi attack

The Independent UK

Jacinda Ardern pulls out of Adelaide writers’ week as fallout over Randa Abdel-Fattah’s axing continues

Ructions within festival board over Palestinian-Australian academic’s inclusion began in October, email reveals

The Guardian - AU

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Pedestrian.tv

Fourth Adelaide Festival Board Member Resigns Over Randa Abdel-Fattah Backlash

Almost 50 authors have pulled out of the festival program over its decision to remove Palestinian-Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah from the line-up.

AAP

Festival dumping calculated, says Palestinian author

Dumped author Randa Abdel-Fattah says attempts to police speech will backfire as more than 100 writers quit a besieged literary festival in solidarity.

The Guardian - AU

If we silence voices we don’t agree with, we’re doing the work of extremists for them

I do not need to share Randa Abdel-Fattah’s views to believe that removing her is wrong. This is why I’ve withdrawn from Adelaide writers’ week

The Guardian - AU

SA premier denies pressuring Adelaide festival to drop Randa Abdel-Fattah

Letter from 11 South Australian cultural leaders labels cancellation of Palestinian-Australian’s participation a ‘grave mistake’ which brought festival into disrepute

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The Conversation

As authors abandon Adelaide Writers’ Week after cancelling of Randa Abdel-Fattah, is free speech in tatters?

The decision by the Adelaide Festival Board to exclude Palestinian Australian author and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah from Adelaide Writers’ Week on the grounds of “cultural sensitivity” is based on a dangerously broad and vague criterion for suppressing free speech.

The Guardian - AU

Almost 50 writers boycott Adelaide festival after it dumps pro-Palestine academic Randa Abdel-Fattah

Helen Garner and Miles Franklin winner Michelle de Kretser among 47 people who have pulled out of annual writers’ festival to protest Abdel-Fattah’s axing

The Guardian - AU

Adelaide festival dumps prominent academic Randa Abdel-Fattah over ‘cultural sensitivity’ concerns after Bondi attack

Abdel-Fattah accuses the board of ‘blatant and shameless’ anti-Palestinian racism and censorship, as other authors pull out in solidarity

The Independent UK

Who is Alaa Abd El-Fattah? The Egyptian activist at the centre of a new row for Starmer

Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a British-Egyptian dual national, was detained in Egypt in September 2019 and released earlier this year

The Guardian - AU

‘I have no interest in the white gaze any more’: Randa Abdel-Fattah on Gaza, boycotts and her new novel

Discipline follows a journalist and an academic navigating censorship in the wake of Israel’s war on Gaza – an issue the author is no stranger to herself

The Guardian - UK

Laila Soueif, on 247th day of hunger strike for jailed British-Egyptian son, defiant in face of death

Soueif is willing to do ‘what it takes’ to free Alaa Abd el-Fattah, after a lifetime of speaking up against injustice

The Guardian - UK

Egypt illegally detaining Alaa Abd el-Fattah, UN investigators find

Report says British-Egyptian writer held for expressing political views and should be released without delay

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