Craig Silvey’s books pulled from WA and Victoria curriculums after child exploitation material charges | Western Australia

Australian novelist Craig Silvey’s books have been removed from school curriculums in Victoria and his home state, and a major stage adaptation of one of his works has been halted after the author was charged this week with possessing and distributing child abuse material.

Silvey, 43, was arrested on Monday (January 12) after detectives executed a search warrant at his home in Fremantle. He appeared in Fremantle magistrates’ court on Tuesday charged with distribution of child abuse material and possession of child abuse material. No requests were entered.

Sydney-based theater company Belvoir announced on Wednesday it would “indefinitely pause” sales, development and promotion of its stage adaptation of Silvey’s children’s book Runt, which is scheduled to open in August.

A spokesman for Belvoir described the matter as “extremely regrettable”.

“Belvoir takes this matter very seriously and stands with survivors of child abuse and exploitation and their families,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“Although Mr. Silvey was not directly involved in Belvoir’s stage adaptation of Runt, Belvoir nevertheless indefinitely paused work, promotions and sales on this production while these accusations are addressed by the police and court.”

John Leary was adapting the book for the stage, and the play was to be directed by Belvoir’s former artistic director, Neil Armfield.

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Silvey is an award-winning author known for her critically acclaimed coming-of-age works Jasper Jones and Runt, both of which were adapted into feature films. Jasper Jones has also been adapted for theater and has been performed over the last decade by Barking Gecko, Belvoir, Melbourne Theater Company, Queensland Theater and the State Theater Company of South Australia.

Silvey has twice been named one of the Sydney Morning Herald’s best young Australian novelists and has been the patron of Subiaco City’s Craig Silvey Award for Young Writers for the past three years.

On Tuesday, Subiaco City mayor David McMullen said arrangements for the Young Writers Award “are made on an annual basis.”

“The City does not have an ongoing agreement with Craig Silvey. Mr. Silvey will have no involvement with the 2026 Young Writers Award,” McMullen said.

Runt is one of the most successful of Silvey’s six novels. It won book of the year and children’s awards at the 2023 Independent Book Awards, and was named children’s book of the year for young readers by the Australian Children’s Book Council that same year.

The new Runt book, Annie and Runt, featuring series illustrator Sara Acton, was scheduled to be released in November of this year. A spokesman for Silvey’s publisher, Allen & Unwin, said this would be on hold while Silvey’s matter was in court.

“The nature of the allegations is extremely distressing,” the spokesman said.

“We accept that this is an active police matter and that Mr. Silvey is entitled to procedural fairness and the presumption of innocence until the matter is dealt with by a court. Given the seriousness of the charges, Allen & Unwin will cease promotional activities of Mr. Silvey’s work while the legal process continues.”

Silvey and Acton’s 2025 release, Runt and the Diaabolik Dognapping, was longlisted but not shortlisted for the 2026 Independent Book Awards, and was released 24 hours after the accusations against Silvey were made public. Acton has been reached through his manager for comment.

Silvey’s work has been frequently included in school curriculums across the country and has become a very popular choice for schools.

Two of Silvey’s books, Jasper Jones and Rhubarb, are on a list of 100 texts for Year 11 and 12 students in Literature in 2026, Western Australian education minister Sabine Winton said on Tuesday. Jasper Jones was also one of 40 recommended texts for Year 11 and 12 Atar and General English courses this year.

“The nature of these allegations is extremely worrying,” Winton said. “I have asked the Department of Education to ensure that schools stop using Craig Silvey’s texts for the 2026 school year while the allegations are investigated.”

WA’s education department could not immediately determine how many schools planned to teach Silvey’s books because those choices are a matter for each individual school.

“Some students may have studied these texts in previous years. The School Curriculum and Standards Agency will not penalize Year 12 students who refer to these texts in the 2026 ATAR Literature subject examination,” Winton said.

Teaching resources for Runt have been removed from circulation in Victoria and a Victorian Department of Education spokesperson said: “Craig Silvey’s texts have been removed from the Victorian Lesson Plans, he is not listed in any VCE English, VCE English as an Additional Language or VCE Literature and his books will not feature in the 2026 Premier’s Reading Challenge.”

A Queensland Department of Education spokesman said none of Silvey’s books were on the projected text list for 2026 but recommended state schools remove all copies of his books while the matter was investigated.

The New South Wales state education department has been contacted for comment.