Nearly 50 Authors Withdraw From Writers’ Festival After Staunch Israel Critic Dropped

A few writers complained the move equated to censorship.

A police boat (R) patrols near a giant screen ahead of a memorial for the victims of a shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 21, 2025. David Gray/AFP via Getty Images

Close to 50 authors have withdrawn from the Adelaide Festival in protest of an earlier decision by board members to drop Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah from its line-up.

The board issued a statement on Jan. 8 outlining its concerns about the cultural sensitivity of including Abdel-Fattah—a consistent critic of Israel—in the wake of the Bondi Beach anti-Semitic terror attack that claimed 15 lives and injured 40.