Check it out !!

Not much on the commercial news about this, but I heard it's worth at least 65 mill to the Adelaide economy, so someone is in trouble. Tsk,tsk,tsk....

Adelaide Writers Week Festival cancelled amid outrage over barring Palestinian writer | Stuff.co.nz

ʞɔnɟ her she's a ʇunɔ

Controversies around her also include an image posted to her social media in the hours after the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel, depicting a person parachuting with a Palestinian flag.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgm4jkwz2z8o

Gordon wrote on Jan 13^th, 2026 at 7:37pm:


180 writers pulling out, plus the resignation of the director, Louise Adler, says you are dead wrong !!


Check it out !!

greggerypeccary wrote on Jan 13^th, 2026 at 7:57pm:


Don't give them any ideas

Palestinian writer's cancellation from Adelaide Writers Festival
2026-01-09
greens.org.au
Acting Leader of the Australian Greens and Arts & Communications spokesperson Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young said:

Like a lot of South Australians today, I am deeply disturbed the Adelaide’s beloved Writers Festival has been ruined by this terrible decision.

The decision to drop Palestinian writer Randa Abdel-Fattah from Adelaide Writers Festival is deeply concerning and should be reversed.

Freedom of expression and the exchange of ideas are what makes writers festivals what they are.

Engaging in respectful, thoughtful debate and challenging ideas and opinions is the whole purpose of an event like this.

Censorship and shutting down diverse voices, including Palestinian voices is the antithesis of an open, free and respectful democracy.

South Australia has a proud history of our arts festivals and supporting artist freedom of expression. This craven decision will leave our state and our reputation as the festival state in tatters.

The Greens will continue to advocate for artists to do their work free of political interference and pressure.

As both a regular panelist and supporter of the AWW I am extremely disappointed and saddened that the Adelaide Festival board has made this decision. It is a bad decision and should be reversed.

Influential publisher Morry Schwartz says Adelaide Writers Week boss Louise Adler has intentionally “wounded” the literary festival, claiming the director knew programming controversial Palestinian writer Randa Abdel-Fattah would imperil the event’s future.

In a letter to The Australian, Mr Schwartz claimed Ms Adler’s “obsessive cause” was to blame for the fallout at AWW, where more than 70 authors reportedly had publicly withdrawn and four Adelaide Festival board members, including chair Tracey Whiting, had resigned.

“It’s clearly Louise Adler who has wounded Adelaide Writers’ Week – not the board, nor the SA government,” wrote Mr Schwartz, owner of Schwartz Media, publisher of Black Inc Books, The Saturday Paper, The Monthly and Quarterly Essay.

“Adler well knew that including Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah (‘if you are a Zionist you have no claim or right to cultural safety’) would endanger the institution.

“But it mattered nil to her – her obsessive cause is more important to her than our precious 66-year-old writers’ festival.”

Three years ago, Mr Schwartz called for Ms Adler to resign from her position, but for the writers at her festival to remain.

“Back then she programmed eight pro-Palestinian activists, with zero alternative voices. One, Mohammed El-Kurd, compared Israel to Nazis and defended someone who tweeted that she wanted ‘to kill every motherf..king Zionist’, ‘curse the Jews’, and who supported Hamas. Others weren’t far behind.”


Adler is Jewish. Was a student of Edward Said at Columbia and is married to Max Gillies.

Frank wrote on Jan 13^th, 2026 at 9:52pm:

Australian men died in Vietnam and there were street war-protests.
People died in the previous bushfires and there were protests about policy.
Ate Jews so different that there can't be protest while they mourn Bondi?

Well - there goes the ball game...

Sounds like good riddance to me.