Library loses literary awards after review into winner’s Palestine post
A library has lost its role managing the state’s literary awards, after an Indigenous writer was criticised for her comments about a slain Hamas leader.
A library has lost its role administering Queensland’s biggest literary prize, after a review into the controversial revocation of a prestigious fellowship awarded to an Adelaide-based Indigenous author.
Wyld had been set to receive the black&write! fellowship, worth $15,000, for a manuscript that documented seven generations of stolen children.
The fellowship was part of the State Library of Queensland’s Queensland Literary Awards, which last year had a total prize pool of $261,000.
Langbroek stepped in after Wyld referred to slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as a “martyr” in a social media post, which she later deleted.
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Wyld previously told InReview she was not fully aware who Sinwar was when she published the post and said she posted the comment in an “emotional moment”, seeking to show solidarity with Palestinians in her feed after seeing graphic, widely shared footage of Sinwar’s final moments released by the Israeli government.
The minister told parliament at the time that he had taken the decision that the award should not be presented at the state library.
A review by former Supreme Court judge Martin Daubney KC has recommended the State Library of Queensland cease its involvement in the Queensland Literary Awards on behalf of the government.
The SLQ accepted the recommendation after the review was published on Thursday.
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Langbroek said in a statement the SLQ was expected to “enhance its governance, policies and processes, and to better balance the priorities and expectations of Queenslanders and the Crisafulli Government”.
While creative diversity and robust debate were important, “we’ve taken decisive action to make Queensland safer”, he said.
“The Crisafulli Government unashamedly holds the position that state-owned buildings will not be a platform for hate speech,” Langbroek said.
The library was working with Creative Australia to “transition” the Queensland Literary Awards to new providers, who are yet to be named, he said.
In 2012, the former LNP government led by Campbell Newman cancelled the funding of the awards, then known as the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards, on the pretext of saving taxpayer’s money.
Wyld, who formerly published under the name Karen Wyld, has previously won a South Australian Literary Fellowship from the State Library of South Australia and Writer’s SA, a 2022 fellowship as part of the South Australian Literary Awards, and the 2020 Dorthy Hewitt Award for an unpublished manuscript for her novel Where the Fruit Falls.
She has also been a contributor to InReview, and served as a mentor in the InReview First Nations Mentorship program.
-with AAP
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