Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One app.

Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles. One news app.

HISTORICAL FACTS: 2 - The Untold Story

As authors abandon Adelaide Writers’ Week after cancelling of Randa Abdel-Fattah, is free speech in tatters?

The decision by the Adelaide Festival Board to exclude Palestinian Australian author and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah from Adelaide Writers’ Week on the grounds of “cultural sensitivity” is based on a dangerously broad and vague criterion for suppressing free speech.

The Conversation

How the Bendigo writers’ festival’s code of conduct caused a walkout and claims of censorship

The last-minute code of conduct and the backlash are the latest in a string of controversies ‘symptomatic of the current environment’ in the arts

The Guardian - AU

Havoc by Rebecca Wait review – a Saint Trinian’s tragicomedy

A mysterious illness sweeps through an isolated girls’ boarding school, in a work brimming with horror, humour and hysteria

The Guardian - UK

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

Speaking out on Gaza: Australian creatives and arts organisations struggle to reconcile competing pressures

As cultural institutions respond to political statements on the war, many artists say they face a choice between career opportunities and standing up for their beliefs

The Guardian - AU

From Creative Australia to Sydney writers’ festival, the direct threat facing the arts is coming from within

In this adapted extract from What’s the Big Idea? Louise Adler looks at the failure of Australian cultural leaders shying from risk and artistic vision – and letting the tail wag the dog

The Guardian - AU

‘Suicide for democracy.’ What is ‘bothsidesism’ – and how is it different from journalistic objectivity?

“Bothsidesism” is a term of disparagement against a form of journalism that presents “both sides” of an issue without any regard for their relative evidentiary merits.

The Conversation

Melbourne writers’ festival deputy chair resigns over Aboriginal and Palestinian solidarity poetry event

Leslie Reti quoted as saying the event’s program description is ‘deeply offensive’, but artistic director calls it a ‘celebration’ of connection between communities

The Guardian - AU

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

Safety signals and security guards: when did Australian writers’ festivals become so fraught?

Perth writers’ weekend has a risk-management plan, as a culture war brews ahead of Adelaide writers’ week. How can organisers keeps festivals safe without watering them down?

The Guardian - AU

MUP has commissioned a history of itself. The result is illuminating, but in striving for 'neutrality' it falls short

Privately commissioned histories sit oddly within the Australian book market. Often produced as acts of institutional vanity or exercises in public relations, many are no doubt read only by members of the institutions themselves, and ignored by the wider reading public.

The Conversation

Adelaide Writers’ Week withdrawals ‘sad’ and ‘unfortunate’, director Louise Adler says

Adler defends ‘courageous spaces to air opposing views’ as major sponsor and three Ukrainian writers pull out over comments from other invited authors

The Guardian - AU

Free speech or 'genocide cheering'? Ukranian authors withdraw from Adelaide Writers' Week

This week, Ukrainian writer Maria Tumarkin announced her withdrawal from Adelaide Writers’ Week, along with fellow Ukrainians Olesya Khromeychuk and Kateryna Babkina. (Tumarkin writes that she doesn’t support calls for resignations, cancellations, or boycotts of the event.)

The Conversation

Ukrainian authors reveal reasons for decision to withdraw from Adelaide Writers' Week

Ukrainian authors who have chosen to withdraw from Adelaide Writers' Week have opened up on their reasons, with one saying she could not participate in "any kind of event that gives voice" to doubts about her nation's sovereignty.

ABC News

Ukrainian authors withdraw from Adelaide Writers' Week amid line-up controversy

Ukrainian authors who had been scheduled to appear at Adelaide Writers' Week have withdrawn from the festival amid ongoing controversy over public comments another guest made about Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

ABC News

Are calls to cancel two Palestinian writers from Adelaide Writers' Week justified?

The organisers of the 2023 Adelaide Writers’ Week, which starts on March 4, are under pressure to withdraw invitations to two Palestinian writers: one for her views about Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the other for his views on Israel and Zionism.

The Conversation

Get all your
news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One news app.

ABC News

Adelaide Writers' Week defends scheduling author who is critical of Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Adelaide Writers' Week defends a decision to schedule an author who has been vocal against Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying the event is about debating different views.

1 2

People

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

Organisations

AntiDefamation League

the State Library of Victoria

13 stories

La Trobe

12 stories

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

Topics

Places

Fourteen days free

Download the app

One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.