Twist after pro-Palestine author was dumped from Writers’ Festival and sparked mass boycott by ABC stars
An Australian-Palestinian author who was controversially dumped from an esteemed writers’ festival has announced she will now be speaking at another event.
Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah was uninvited from the Adelaide Writers’ Week amid concerns over ‘cultural sensitivity’ in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack.
The author and academic had been criticised for past anti-Zionist comments, including: ‘If you are a Zionist you have no claim or right to cultural safety’.
The decision sparked a mass exodus of the festival’s talent, with more than 180 writers and commentators, including former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and ABC’s Sarah Ferguson, pulling out.
The event was then cancelled, with Adelaide Festival organisers admitting it was ‘no longer viable for it to proceed’.
On Wednesday, it was revealed the award-winning author and academic will now appear at the one-off festival, Constellations: Not Writers’ Week, to be held in Adelaide from February 28 to March 5.
A press release said Dr Abdel-Fattah will feature at an ‘in conversation’ event with former Adelaide Writers’ Week Director, Louise Adler.
Ms Adler was one of many to depart in January when half the board resigned after the cancellation of the programme she had worked so hard to curate for 2026.
Award-winning author and academic Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah was uninvited from the Adelaide Writers’ Week in January over past anti-Zionist comments
The release said the festival aims to ‘show support for the writers and readers who withdrew from Adelaide Writers’ Week 2026 in protest at the previous Adelaide Festival board’s decision to cancel the appearance of Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah’.
In a column for The Guardian, Adler – who is on the advisory committee of the Jewish Council of Australia – said the decision was one she made with a ‘heavy heart’ but that she would not be party to silencing writers.
‘The increasingly extreme and repressive efforts of pro-Israel lobbyists to stifle even the mildest criticism have had a chilling effect on free speech and democratic institutions,’ she wrote.
‘The new mantra “Bondi changed everything” has offered this lobby, its stenographers in the media and a spineless political class yet another coercive weapon.’
After criticism and media furore, Adelaide Festival reversed its previous decision to exclude Dr Abdel-Fattah and retracted its earlier statement.
‘We apologise to Dr Abdel-Fattah unreservedly for the harm the Adelaide Festival Corporation has caused her,’ the statement read.
‘Intellectual and artistic freedom is a powerful human right. Our goal is to uphold it, and in this instance Adelaide Festival Corporation fell well short.’
Dr Abdel-Fattah accepted the apology and said she would consider the board’s invitation to participate in the 2027 festival in a response on social media.
The decision to dump her sparked a mass exodus of the festival’s talent. The event was then cancelled by Adelaide Festival which admitted it was ‘no longer viable for it to proceed’
The author said the episode highlights the ‘profound lack of racial literacy’ in public institutions and the need for urgent anti-racism education.
‘I accept this apology as acknowledgement of our right to speak publicly and truthfully about the atrocities that have been committed against the Palestinian people,’ she said.
‘I accept this apology as a vindication of our collective solidarity and mobilisation against anti-Palestinian racism, bullying and censorship.
‘I accept this unreserved apology as acknowledgment of the harm inflicted on our communities.
‘Whilst AF’s statement acknowledges the harm done, it is not a quick fix to repair the damage and injury inflicted.’
New Adelaide Festival Board chair Judy Potter also apologised to Ms Adler.
‘We acknowledge the principled stand she took in the extremely difficult decision to resign from her role as Director,’ Ms Potter said.
‘Louise is a revered figure of Australian literature who we hold in the highest regard.’
Dr Abdel-Fattah will now appear at an ‘in conversation’ panel with former Adelaide Writers’ Week director Louise Adler (pictured) at an alternative event on March 1
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has also denied accusations he pressured the board to cancel Dr Abdel-Fattah’s appearance.
Dr Abdel-Fattah slammed the board after it was announced she had been uninvited.
‘The Bondi terrorist attack was abhorrent and horrifying,’ she said.
‘Yet it is astonishing to see the board’s erasure of terrorist attacks against First Nations’ peoples in Australia, as well as the erasure of the Australia-perpetuated terrorist attack in Christchurch.
‘This is not about oppression Olympics, but truthful reckoning with the violence of this colony and understanding the connections between violence, not the exceptions.’
Dr Abdel-Fattah continued: ‘And this is why it is never more important to understand that whilst this was all triggered by a blatant act of anti-Palestinian racism against me as an individual person, it is clear that settler colonial and white supremacist violence against one marginalised person represents violence against all marginalised people.’
