The Adelaide Festival Board dropped Palestinian-Australian writer Dr. Randa Abdel-Fattah from the late February event, pointing to ‘cultural sensitivity’ following the December 14, 2025, Bondi Beach shooting where 15 people died.
Abdel-Fattah, author of 12 books including *Discipline*, called it anti-Palestinian racism and censorship, while critics like Yanis Varoufakis and Jane Caro decried it as a free speech betrayal.
By January 9, almost 100 authors withdrew, organisations pulled support, and the full lineup was unpublished, leaving the beloved free literary event’s future in doubt.
