Dumped author to consider festival return after apology
A Palestinian-Australian writer controversially suspended from a major literary festival has accepted an apology from the new board and will consider returning next year.
Randa Abdel-Fattah was expelled from Adelaide Writers’ Week last week in a decision that triggered a mass boycott of 180 speakers and the resignation of its celebrity director and several board members.
Writers’ week was scheduled to begin in February but was canceled when the program collapsed and a new board and chairs were installed.
The board issued an apology to Dr Abdel-Fattah on Thursday.
The former board had cited “cultural sensitivity” regarding the Bondi terror attack and cited past statements made by the author, a vocal critic of Israel, in canceling his participation.
The new board, led by former festival president Judy Potter, said: “We withdraw this statement. We have reversed the decision and will reinstate Dr Abdel-Fattah’s invitation to speak at the next Adelaide Writers’ Week in 2027.”
“We unreservedly apologize to Dr. Abdel-Fattah for the harm caused to him by the Adelaide Festival Corporation.
“Intellectual and artistic freedom is a powerful human right. Our aim is to protect this and in this case the Adelaide Festival Corporation has fallen quite short.”
The board also apologized to Louise Adler, who stepped down as the event’s director on Tuesday, saying she “could not be party to the silencing of writers.”
“We recognize the principled stance she took in making the extremely difficult decision to resign from her position as director,” the board said of Ms. Adler in a separate statement.
The board rescinded its decision to set up a sub-committee to review writers’ week’s operational decisions, saying the committee was “committed to the curatorial independence of the Director of Adelaide Writers’ Week”.
Dr Abdel-Fattah told AAP he would consider accepting an invitation to next year’s festival and would attend “in a heartbeat” if Ms Adler was at the helm again.
“I accept this apology as an acknowledgment of our right to speak publicly and honestly about the atrocities committed against the Palestinian people,” he told AAP.
“I accept this apology as a testament to our collective solidarity and mobilization against anti-Palestinian racism, bullying and censorship.”
The academic and novelist had faced scrutiny for social media posts, including one in which he declared that Zionists “have no claim or right to cultural security.”
His dismissal was supported by South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, who maintained his stance on the issue despite criticism of political interference.
“I have a responsibility to call out those who openly deprive themselves of a voice for others, as (Dr) Abdel-Fattah did,” he said on ABC’s 7.30 program on Wednesday.
Dr Abdel-Fattah accused him of launching a “brutal personal attack” at a press conference suggesting he was an extremist terror sympathiser.
He filed a defamation lawsuit against Mr. Malinauskas over the comments.
Readers and Writers Against Genocide launched a legal fund for Dr Abdel-Fattah on the online social justice fundraising platform Chuffed, which has raised more than $40,000 towards its $100,000 target.
Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, British novelist Zadie Smith and popular Australian author Trent Dalton were among those who withdrew from Writers’ Week in solidarity with the academic.
On Thursday Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said Mr Malinauskas should apologize to Dr Abdel-Fattah, Ms Adler and the people of South Australia.
“It is now time for him to admit his mistake and reassure the state’s artist community that he will have their back in the future.
“This whole affair has done tremendous damage to our state and to our artistic freedom more generally. Australia’s international arts reputation has indeed been damaged.”
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