Israel Critic to Headline Sydney Writers’ Festival After Axing From Earlier Event

Sydney Writers’ Festival CEO Brooke Webb and artistic director Ann Mossop stood by their decision to host Abdel-Fattah.

A supplied undated image obtained Jan. 8, 2026, shows academic and lawyer Randa Abdel-Fattah posing for a portrait in Sydney, Australia. PR Image/Supplied by Macquarie University

Australian-Palestinian author Randa Abdel-Fattah will headline the Sydney Writers Festival, weeks after she was removed from the Adelaide Writers’ Festival amid concerns of her influence in the fallout of the Bondi terror attack.

Abdel-Fattah is set to speak about her new novel, Discipline, at two of the Sydney festival’s events set for May this year.