Star British author Zadie Smith joins dozens of authors boycotting Adelaide Writers’ Week

Star British author Zadie Smith has joined dozens of writers who have pulled out of this year’s Adelaide Writers’ Week following the Adelaide Festival board’s decision to remove Palestinian-Australian writer Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah from the line-up.

Among the writers resigning from the event in protest are Pulitzer Prize-winning American Percival Everett, former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, and American journalist Masha Gessen.

Locally, Michelle de Kretser, Helen Garner, Melissa Lucashenko, Hannah Kent, Evelyn Araluen, Jane Caro and Peter Greste have withdrawn, as have Peter FitzSimons and Kate Halfpenny, writers for this masthead. Richard Flanagan, while not on the line-up, has expressed support for those who have boycotted.

The Adelaide Festival board said on Thursday that, while it was not suggesting “in any way” that Abdel-Fattah or her writing had any connection with the Bondi attack, given her past statements “it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to program her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi”.

Adelaide Writers’ Week director Louise Adler has not spoken publicly since the board made its announcement on Thursday. This year is her fourth in the role and many of the writers withdrawing paid tribute to her work.

One of the country’s largest and best loved literary festivals, AWW is scheduled to run from February 28 to March 5. However on Friday, the program was missing from its website, with the note: “In respect of the wishes of the writers who have recently indicated their withdrawal from the Writers’ Week 2026 program, we have temporarily unpublished the list of participants and events while we work through changes.”

South Australian Jewish leader Norman Schueler told Adelaide’s The Advertiser newspaper on Friday his community had asked that Abdel-Fattah be excluded. “Over a number of festivals there have been certain presenters who have been problematic and we are extremely pleased that they have … for once listened to what we have to say,” he said.

“It was a very wise move and it will improve the cohesiveness of the festival by not having her there,” Schueler said.

Last year this masthead reported on concerns raised by a group called the Australian Academic Alliance Against Antisemitism, also known as 5A, about Abdel-Fattah’s previous public commentary ahead of her appearance at the Bendigo Writers Festival. It referenced a series of her social media posts, including ones it asserted had said Zionists had “no claim to cultural safety” and that institutions that considered “fragile feelings of Zionists” were “abhorrent”.

In 2024, she was accused of doxing Jewish creatives and has also been criticised for use of an image of a parachutist under the Palestinian flag following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

In early 2025, Abdel-Fattah’s $870,000 research grant was suspended and she was subject to a 10-month investigation by The Australian Research Council (ARC) into potential conflicts of interest over her public comments about Israel. In December she was cleared and the grant reinstated.

In her letter of resignation, Stella Prize winner Professor Clare Wright, said she did so “with a heavy heart and a gutful of outrage”.

“As a Jewish Australian, I am shocked and insulted that the board could exploit the tragedy of Bondi to weaponise its much-loved and respected literary festival. As a writer, I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Dr Abdel-Fattah and her democratic rights and entitlements to discuss her novel [Discipline] on any stage, in any city, in any country in the world ...”

Greg Barns, SC, spokesman for the Australian Lawyers Alliance, said it shows that artists and writers in Australia do not have adequate human rights protections.

“In nations with a charter of rights or a human rights act, the right to freedom of expression can be enforced. Governments can be sued for breaching those rights. In Canada, for example, its charter of rights protects speech, art and ideas, and actions can be brought against governments that illegitimately interfere with those rights,” Barns said.

“In other parts of the world the Adelaide Festival would face legal action for its decision.”

Talk of staging a guerrilla festival at the same time as the festival is gaining momentum with independent South Australian publisher Pink Shorts Press saying there was interest in the idea as writers continue to boycott the main event, according to InDailySA. It also reports that Adelaide City councillor Keiran Snape vowed to push for council to cut its funding to the festival after the controversy.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas doubled down on the decision. “When asked for my opinion, I was happy to make it clear that the state government did not support the inclusion of Dr Abdel-Fattah on the Adelaide Writers’ Week program.

“I do not support the inclusion of those who actively undermine the cultural safety of others, who celebrate the death of innocent civilians, or those who dox other artists simply because of their faith or cultural background.”

He said the Adelaide Festival “also made its own decision to remove a Jewish writer from the Adelaide Writers’ Week program in 2024 in very similar circumstances. I support that decision, and the consistent application of this principle.”

This masthead has asked the Adelaide Festival to provide more information on the premier’s assertion.

Former NSW premier Bob Carr, a prominent critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza, told The Guardian he would still be appearing at the festival and supported the decision.

“The Adelaide writers’ festival has supported hearing Palestinian voices; its record on this is unimpeachable,” Carr said.

“The board should be supported, and people sympathetic to the Palestinian cause should continue to participate in [the festival].”

Concerns about the wording of the Adelaide Festival board’s statement – citing the “cultural sensitivity” of a Palestinian-Australian author appearing at the event so soon after the shootings in Bondi last month – were raised by many authors.

Jamal Hakim, chief executive of the Australian Arab Institute for Culture and Ideas (AAICI), says the decision is the latest in a worrying trend.

“Invoking ‘cultural sensitivity’ to justify silencing an author does not protect anyone. It sharpens the divide and is deeply troubling. It tells Palestinians that their testimony alone is too dangerous to be heard, that their grief is an unacceptable disturbance in public life,” he said.

“If this community is serious about healing, Palestinian stories and human rights cannot be pushed to the margins. They must remain visible, audible, and part of the shared record. Silence does not mend wounds, nor does it help end atrocities.”

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