Writers’ Week books in warehouse limbo after festival implodes
Hundreds of books ordered for the now-cancelled Writers’ Week will be sent back to publishers, with the operator of the book tent disappointed about the loss of the “grand final” for authors.
Close to 20 pallets of books pre-ordered for Writers’ Week are in warehouse limbo, awaiting return to publishers, after the 2026 edition of the literature festival was cancelled this week.
Dillon’s Bookshop owner Angus Dillon – whose team partners with Adelaide Festival to run the book tent at Writers’ Week –told InDaily “hundreds of thousands of dollars” of books would not be sold at the high-profile literary festival.
He said he hoped as many books as possible would go on to be sold at independent booksellers “as quickly as possible”.
“That’s what we’re working on at the moment,” Dillon said.
Dillon’s has been operating the book tent for the past four years, and is responsible for sourcing the books written by the nearly 200 authors who speak at the renowned Writers’ Week.
This year’s event was cancelled on Tuesday after 180 writers pulled out in protest of the removal of Palestinian-Australian author Dr Randa Abdul-Fattah from the lineup.
The former board said it was “deeply regrettable” but “the event can no longer go ahead as scheduled for this year”.
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Dillon said the process of organising the book tent was “like painting the Sydney Harbour Bridge”.
“We essentially start ordering those books from around October, surrounding the initial announcement,” he said.
“All of those orders had obviously been done.”
With the event cancelled, Dillon said his bookshop on The Parade in Norwood would no longer get to enjoy the association with Writers’ Week this year, and “the fruits of all of our work”.
“The authors and staff who work on the event, they’re the ones who are impacted the most,” he said.
“This is their grand final, where they get to showcase their work, and that opportunity has been taken away from them.
“It’s certainly been great in terms of people talking about books, but sadly not in the same way.”
It comes as data is revealed on forward bookings for hotel occupancy in Adelaide for the period of Writers’ Week.
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Occupancy is up single digits this year compared to last year, with Australian Hotels Association CEO Anna Moeller noting there was still demand for accommodation during the broader Adelaide Festival.
“We never like to see a cancellation, but it’s probably the best time that it could have happened,” Moeller told InDaily.
When the Premier was asked on Wednesday if he was concerned about the economic hit the state will face through the loss of Writers Week, he said “because the Adelaide Writers’ Week is a free event, it is not a ticketed event, it generates zero revenue. So no, not just at this stage.”
According to the now-defunct programme, the 2026 Writers’ Week included a range of ticketed events, including appearances by international authors Tina Brown, Christiane Amanpour, Michael Lewis, Emily Maitlis, and Jacinda Ardern, with tickets starting at $40.
Writers’ Week had a record-breaking 160,000 attendances in 2025 – the event’s 40th year – over the six days.
