A major Australian arts festival has been cancelled after days of turmoil that began with the removal of a Palestinian-Australian author and escalated into a mass boycott and a flurry of resignations.
The organisers of the 2026 Adelaide Writers’ Week (AWW) announced on Tuesday that the event – a core fixture of Australia’s cultural calendar – would not go ahead, describing the outcome as “deeply regrettable” and apologising to Randa Abdel-Fattah for how its decision to remove her had been represented.
The cancellation came hours after director Louise Adler and multiple other members of the festival board resigned.
The crisis was triggered last Thursday when the board withdrew an invitation to Ms Abdel-Fattah, arguing that it would “not be culturally sensitive to programme her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi”. The board claimed it was not suggesting any connection between the author or her work and the Bondi Beach attack, which targeted a Jewish event.
Ms Abdel-Fattah is a Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine. She previously faced criticism from Jewish groups for allegedly saying that Zionists had “no claim or right to cultural safety”.
The decision to remove her triggered an immediate backlash from international writers, academics, and commentators, with withdrawals accelerating over the following days.
More than 180 invited participants pulled out, including former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, bestselling novelist Zadie Smith, Pulitzer prize-winning writer Percival Everett, Greek economist and politician Yanis Varoufakis, Irish novelist Roisín O’Donnell, Australian poet Evelyn Araluen, and Russian-American journalist M Gessen.
Adelaide drinks manufacturer Mischief Brew withdrew its sponsorship while former festival leaders signed an open letter urging the board to reinstate Ms Abdel-Fattah.
Ms Adler resigned on Tuesday, writing in an opinion piece in The Guardian that the decision to drop Ms Abdel-Fattah had been taken despite her “strongest opposition”.
“I cannot be party to silencing writers, so with a heavy heart I am resigning from my role as the director of the AWW,” she wrote. “Writers and writing matters, even when they are presenting ideas that discomfort and challenge us.”
Her departure was followed by the resignation of four of the festival board’s seven voting members, including the chair, Tracey Whiting, with the remaining board members stepping down soon afterwards.
Announcing the cancellation, the board apologised for removing the Palestinian-Australian author, saying the decision was taken to respect a community “experiencing the pain from a devastating event”, but it instead “created more division”.
“Many authors have since announced they will no longer appear at Adelaide Writers’ Week 2026 and it is the Adelaide Festival’s position that the event can no longer go ahead as scheduled for this year. This is a deeply regrettable outcome,” it said in a statement.
The board apologised to Ms Abdel-Fattah “for how the decision was represented” and acknowledged the distress caused to artists, audiences, staff, and partners.
