South Australia's cultural elite have been left reeling after a bitter war of words tore apart the 2026 Adelaide Writers' Festival, an event meant to celebrate literature and ideas. The dispute began with a quiet disagreement over programming but escalated into a six-day free-for-all, culminating in the festival's collapse.
The seeds of discord were sown in October last year when Tony Berg, a former managing director of Macquarie Bank and Boral, resigned from the board of the Adelaide Writers' Festival. In his letter of resignation, Berg accused the festival's leadership of presiding over a "blatantly one-sided" program that had traded open debate for censorship.
Berg claimed that Louise Adler, the festival's director, had failed to provide balance in her programming since her appointment in 2022 and had "spewed anti-Zionism" through her choice of speakers. The writer Randa Abdel-Fattah was at the centre of the row, with Berg accusing her of being an extremist terrorist sympathiser after she responded to her cancellation by claiming the festival's leadership had engaged in racist and hypocritical tactics.
The backlash against the festival reached a fever pitch when over 170 literary luminaries signed an open letter demanding Abdel-Fattah's reinstatement. The festival's board eventually pulled the plug, with the new skeleton board announcing that the event would not go ahead this year.
In a desperate bid to save his reputation, Premier Peter Malinauskas sparked controversy by comparing Abdel-Fattah to a far-right Zionist who had allegedly murdered people at a mosque. However, this analogy was deemed defamatory by Randa Abdel-Fattah's lawyers and she has vowed to take further action against the premier.
The collapse of the Adelaide Writers' Festival is a stark reminder that even in the most unlikely places, the pursuit of social cohesion can quickly turn into a toxic game of politics. The event meant to celebrate literature and ideas was reduced to a battle over free speech and ideology, leaving many to wonder whether South Australia's cultural elite has lost its way.
The fallout from this debacle is far from over. Randa Abdel-Fattah has vowed to take action against Premier Peter Malinauskas, while the festival's board faces an uncertain future. One thing is clear: in a state that once prided itself on leading Australia in radical and provocative ideas, free speech and difficult debate are now under siege.
As one observer noted, "The city of churches has proven to be no sanctuary for free speech or difficult ideas." Instead, it has become a place where the rowdy pursuit of social cohesion has ended in the absolute quiet of a cancelled festival.
The seeds of discord were sown in October last year when Tony Berg, a former managing director of Macquarie Bank and Boral, resigned from the board of the Adelaide Writers' Festival. In his letter of resignation, Berg accused the festival's leadership of presiding over a "blatantly one-sided" program that had traded open debate for censorship.
Berg claimed that Louise Adler, the festival's director, had failed to provide balance in her programming since her appointment in 2022 and had "spewed anti-Zionism" through her choice of speakers. The writer Randa Abdel-Fattah was at the centre of the row, with Berg accusing her of being an extremist terrorist sympathiser after she responded to her cancellation by claiming the festival's leadership had engaged in racist and hypocritical tactics.
The backlash against the festival reached a fever pitch when over 170 literary luminaries signed an open letter demanding Abdel-Fattah's reinstatement. The festival's board eventually pulled the plug, with the new skeleton board announcing that the event would not go ahead this year.
In a desperate bid to save his reputation, Premier Peter Malinauskas sparked controversy by comparing Abdel-Fattah to a far-right Zionist who had allegedly murdered people at a mosque. However, this analogy was deemed defamatory by Randa Abdel-Fattah's lawyers and she has vowed to take further action against the premier.
The collapse of the Adelaide Writers' Festival is a stark reminder that even in the most unlikely places, the pursuit of social cohesion can quickly turn into a toxic game of politics. The event meant to celebrate literature and ideas was reduced to a battle over free speech and ideology, leaving many to wonder whether South Australia's cultural elite has lost its way.
The fallout from this debacle is far from over. Randa Abdel-Fattah has vowed to take action against Premier Peter Malinauskas, while the festival's board faces an uncertain future. One thing is clear: in a state that once prided itself on leading Australia in radical and provocative ideas, free speech and difficult debate are now under siege.
As one observer noted, "The city of churches has proven to be no sanctuary for free speech or difficult ideas." Instead, it has become a place where the rowdy pursuit of social cohesion has ended in the absolute quiet of a cancelled festival.
. One minute they're saying that Randa Abdel-Fattah should be reinstated because she's been unfairly targeted, and the next they're comparing her to some far-right Zionist who's supposedly responsible for some heinous crime 
. It's like, can we just have a calm conversation about this without resorting to inflammatory analogies? 
. We just need to have some more nuanced conversations about free speech and social cohesion 
.
. Don't they know that sometimes, difficult ideas require difficult conversations? 
. But one thing's for sure: we need to keep having these tough conversations about what it means to be a free society 
.
!! some people think they can just dictate who gets to speak and what gets said? newsflash: literature is all about challenging our perspectives and pushing boundaries! if you're gonna cancel someone for having an unpopular opinion, then you should be prepared to face the heat yourself 
. it's like, if you want to talk about "difficult ideas", then let's have a real conversation about them 
. no more coddling or trying to silence opposing views 
. and what's with all these people trying to compare Randa Abdel-Fattah to some far-right extremist? that's just sickening 
. free speech isn't just about being able to say whatever you want, it's also about listening to others and having a real debate 
.
, there's been some controversy brewing around that Adelaide Writers' Festival for ages 
. I mean, Randa Abdel-Fattah is just speaking her mind and expressing her opinions 
, but in a really snide way 
Comparing Randa Abdel-Fattah to a far-right Zionist who murdered people at a mosque? That was a pretty low blow 
. I mean, if he wants to talk about free speech, maybe he should practice what he preaches 
. The festival was meant to celebrate literature and ideas, but it ended up being a big mess 
. I guess you can't please everyone, but come on! 
.
. The whole thing just feels like a big mess, and I'm just waiting for someone to come along and clean it up 
. It feels like all that's left is a huge mess and no clear winners 
. Tony Berg's concerns about censorship and bias are legit 
. I mean, who needs that kind of drama in a celebration of literature? 
- not cool, mate 
and now there's this super dodgy analogy between her and some far-right zionist dude that premier peter malinauskas uses to try and save face but it just makes him look like a total mess 
what's even more wild is all these literary people signing an open letter to try and get randa reinstated and then the festival just cancels everything because of it 
anyway i guess you can say that politics has totally messed up the whole adelaide writers' fest vibe which was supposed to be all about free speech and literature 
And what's with the premier's comparison to someone who allegedly murdered people at a mosque? That was totally uncalled for! 
.
And what's with Premier Peter Malinauskas trying to draw parallels between Abdel-Fattah and some far-right extremist? Like, come on! That was low-key defamatory 
.
and that the festival's board can figure out what went wrong 
. And then, like, people were accusing others of being extremists or terrorists? No way, that's just not cool 
.
i mean, Randa Abdel-Fattah's a writer, right? shouldn't she be able to express her opinions without some dude accusing her of being an "extremist terrorist sympathiser"? 
(just kidding, festivals are sad when they get cancelled)
The Adelaide Writers' Festival debacle is a perfect storm of egos and ideologies gone haywire 
. It's sad to see something meant for celebrating literature and ideas devolve into a toxic game of politics 
. And now, with Randa Abdel-Fattah's vows to take action against Premier Malinauskas, we're left wondering if anyone will come out of this unscathed 
. It's like they took all the passion and debate out of literature and replaced it with some nasty politics 
... I guess you could say his words were as toxic as the whole situation was 
... we used to get some great debates and discussions out of it, even with our differences being so strong 
.