WELLINGTON – Australia’s largest free literary festival was called off on Tuesday after over 180 authors and speakers pulled out in response to the exclusion of an Australian-Palestinian writer and academic.

The controversy erupted when the Adelaide Festival’s board, which oversees Adelaide Writers Week, announced on January 8 that they had rescinded an invitation to Dr. Randa Abdel-Fattah. The decision was attributed to “cultural sensitivities” in light of an antisemitic mass shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, despite no accusations linking Abdel-Fattah’s work to the incident.

Board members clarified that there was no implication of Abdel-Fattah’s involvement with the tragedy. However, they did not specify which of her past statements led to the decision. In response, Abdel-Fattah condemned the action as “censorship,” suggesting that her presence was being deemed culturally inappropriate.

By the time the festival was canceled on Tuesday, the majority of scheduled participants had already withdrawn. This incident has intensified a national conversation in Australia regarding the boundaries of free speech, particularly following the Bondi shooting.

The removal of Abdel-Fattah from the festival lineup was influenced by lobbying efforts, further complicating the discourse on freedom of expression.

The writer’s removal followed lobbying

A father and son who were apparently inspired by Islamic State group ideology are accused of the massacre during a Hanukkah event in December, in which 15 people were shot dead. The surviving suspect, Naveed Akram, has not entered a plea to the dozens of murder, terrorism and other charges he faces.

In the aftermath, the Jewish Community Council for South Australia — the state where Adelaide is located — wrote to the festival to lobby for Abdel-Fattah’s exclusion, the group’s spokesperson Norman Schueler told The Adelaide Advertiser. The Premier of South Australia state Peter Malinauskus also supported the writer’s removal.

The Adelaide Writers Week was scheduled to run for six days beginning in late February, as part of a wider annual culture festival. The 2025 literary event was the festival’s 40th and attracted 160,000 attendees.

Born in Australia to Palestinian and Egyptian parents, Abdel-Fattah often writes about Islamophobia and had been invited to speak about her novel Discipline, which follows two Muslims, a journalist and a university student, navigating issues of censorship in Sydney. She has been a critic of the Israeli government and an advocate for Palestinians throughout the two-year war in Gaza.

Zadie Smith and Jacinda Ardern quit in protest

After the board’s statement canceling Abdel-Fattah’s appearance, other speakers on the program — including British novelist Zadie Smith and former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern — withdrew from their events too. The Festival’s director quit Tuesday, citing her objections to the board’s decision to disinvite Abdel-Fattah.

Louise Adler, a Jewish Australian, wrote in the Guardian that she could not “be party to silencing writers.” She said 70% of the event’s speakers had withdrawn.

Hours later, a statement on the Festival’s Facebook page said that the event would not proceed and that all remaining board members would resign. The statement, which was not attributed to a named individual, offered an apology to Abdel-Fattah for “how the decision was represented.”

Board members wanted to “reiterate this is not about identity or dissent but rather a continuing rapid shift in the national discourse around the breadth of freedom of expression in our nation following Australia’s worst terror attack in history,” the statement said.

Abdel-Fattah rejected the apology in a post on X Tuesday, lambasting the decision to cancel her appearance as “a blatant act of anti-Palestinian racism.” She said the board had apologized for how her removal was presented but not for the decision itself.

The removal of Abdel-Fattah prompted some sponsors of the event to withdraw, too. The fate of the wider Adelaide Festival was unclear Tuesday, although a new board was due to be appointed Wednesday.

The event is a major draw for the state and generated millions of dollars in revenue and hundreds of jobs in 2025, a report by the festival organization said.

Australia’s leaders are debating hate speech

Abdel-Fattah’s exclusion came amid proposed or enacted law changes covering hate speech, protest and guns after the Bondi massacre. New South Wales state, where the shooting happened, swiftly passed a law in December banning protest gatherings during periods following terrorism declarations.

The state is also mulling changes that would criminalize certain chants, including some used at pro-Palestinian rallies.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Tuesday that he would recall the federal parliament in January to vote on his proposed measures to tighten Australia’s gun controls and lower criminal thresholds for prosecuting hate speech. He has also announced a major national inquiry, called a royal commission, into antisemitism in Australia and the Bondi attack specifically.

Albanese said a national day of mourning for those killed would be held on Jan. 22.