The Adelaide Writers’ Week segment of the Adelaide Festival in South Australia has been plunged into turmoil after the festival’s board removed Palestinian-Australian author and academic Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah from its 2026 programme, igniting a growing boycott by writers and cultural figures from Australia and abroad.

The board announced on January eighth that it had cancelled Abdel-Fattah’s scheduled appearance, citing concerns about “cultural sensitivity” in the wake of the December Bondi Beach terror attack, even as it emphasised that neither her writings nor she personally had any connection to the tragedy.

This decision has triggered an unprecedented backlash within the literary community and beyond.

In response to the removal, more than ninety authors, commentators and public intellectuals—including international names such as Zadie Smith and Yanis Varoufakis—have withdrawn from the event in protest, with other prominent figures such as former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern also pulling out of scheduled appearances.

Dozens more are reported to be considering similar actions, and some have conditioned their participation on Abdel-Fattah’s reinstatement.

The festival’s website temporarily unpublished its full schedule as planning uncertainty deepened.

Abdel-Fattah, an established author, lawyer and academic, castigated the board’s decision as a “blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” arguing that the move unfairly associates her identity and views with unrelated events and undermines freedom of expression.

Critics of the board’s decision have framed it as antithetical to the role of literary festivals as forums for open dialogue and diverse voices.

Many boycotting authors have underscored the importance of artistic freedom and condemned what they describe as the suppression of a Palestinian voice in cultural discourse.

The controversy has also reverberated within the festival’s governance: four of the eight members of the Adelaide Festival board, including its chair, have resigned amid mounting pressure and internal dissent over the handling of Abdel-Fattah’s exclusion, complicating leadership and decision-making just weeks before the festival is due to begin from February twenty-eighth to March fifth.

The South Australian government, which provides significant funding to the festival, has publicly supported the board’s emphasis on sensitivity, while others in the arts and political spheres have called for a reassessment of the decision.

The unfolding boycott highlights deep tensions in Australia’s cultural and political landscape over free speech, representation and the inclusion of diverse perspectives in national events.