Abdel-Fattah confirmed double-bill for alt Writers’ Week
The Palestinian-Australian writer whose cancellation sparked an Adelaide Writers’ Week implosion is speaking in Adelaide at a rapidly organised alternative festival – alongside former event organiser Louise Adler.
Dr Randa Abel-Fattah and former Writers’ Week director Louise Adler are both heading to an Adelaide Town Hall event for an alternative event pulled together in weeks.
Abdel-Fattah will be part of an in-conversation event on March 1 presented by the Australian Friends of Palestine Association, its organisers have confirmed.
The 2026 Adelaide Writers Week, which would have been held in the first week of March, was cancelled after a controversial Adelaide Festival Board decision to remove Abdel-Fattah from its lineup.
Since the prior board’s decision on January 8, its members resigned, and the new board has “unreservedly” apologised to Abdel-Fattah and extended an invitation for her to speak at Writers’ Week 2027 but the festival could not be salvaged for 2026.
A swathe of alternative events to replace the much-loved, high-profile literary festival, have been since organised by writers, bookshops and supporters involved in the initial boycott and the event now includes two appearances from Abdel-Fattah.
You might like
The event is bound to cause controversy after Premier Peter Malinauskas’ comments related to her appearance at the original Writers’ Week led to Abdel-Fattah issuing a second concerns notice for defamation on the Premier, saying she was left with “no choice”.
Following the event with Adler, Abdel Fattah will also appear on a lineup of local and interstate writers at Rivers of Reason: Blak & Arab Writers In Conversation on March 2.
The lineup includes award-winning Yankunytjatjara Aboriginal poet Ali Cobby Eckermann, Walkley-award-winning Goorie author Melissa Lucashenko, Munanjahli and South Sea Islander writer Dr Chelsea Watego and Egyptian-Australian writer Danny Nour.
Rivers of Reason event manager Ren Wyld said the event would “centre timeless writing and exchanges that are both a salve and a spark for the current tumultuous times.”
Stay informed, daily
Opening the festival on February 28 is a day-long program for children and young readers held at Burnside Ballroom and library.
Author and organiser Bethany Clark said the event would fill an “urgent need to share diverse stories with our children”.
“Children need to see their own worlds and lives reflected in the stories and books they read, and the program we have pulled together features 19 incredible local, national and international children’s book creatives who do just that,” Clark said.
As previously revealed by InDaily, Greek author and former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis will also visit Adelaide Town Hall on March 1, followed by a panel with Dr Bob Brown, Hannah Ferguson and Dominic Guerrera to discuss politics and culture.
The Varoufakis headlined event is presented by the Australia Institute, the first Adelaide Writers’ Week event partner that pulled out after the decision to drop Abdel-Fattah from the lineup.
Independent bookseller Goodwood Books will host Palestinian-Australian writer Micaela Sahhar in conversation with Lur Alghurabi on March 1, while Matilda Bookshop will host novelist Eva Hornung at Stirling’s Coventry Library on March 4.
More events are still expected to be announced, with organisers calling on bookshops, libraries, schools and other community groups across SA to register an event and get involved.
