- Zadie Smith
WRITERS CONTROVERSY IN HISTORY
BY SCM FOREIGN DESK
ADELAIDE – WHAT a sorry, spineless spectacle we are witnessing in the world of letters.
The total collapse of Adelaide Writers’ Festival isn’t just a blow for bookworms in the Sun; it is a terrifying omen for anyone who believes in the old-fashioned British value of free speech.
By axing Palestinian author Randa Abdel-Fattah, the festival board didn’t just silence one woman. They lit a bonfire of the vanities that has incinerated the entire event.
Guilt by Association
The excuse? “Cultural sensitivity.” The board claimed her presence would be a “trigger” following a horrific terror attack at Bondi Beach—a tragedy they admitted she had nothing to do with.
Since when did we start banning people from talking about books because of the crimes of others?
If we start vetting every artist based on their heritage or the “national mood,” we won’t have a library left—we’ll have a collection of state-approved brochures.
Credit where it’s due: the 180 writers who walked out—including heavyweights like Zadie Smith—were right to tear up their contracts. They know that if the “Sensitivity Police” can come for one writer today, they’ll come for the rest tomorrow.
Even the festival’s director, Louise Adler, had the guts to quit rather than be a “party to silencing writers.”
Moral Maze
The irony is as thick as a hardback thriller.
A festival designed to celebrate “bold ideas” has been killed by the sheer cowardice of its own leaders. They tried to avoid a row and ended up starting a war—one that has left the festival’s reputation in the gutter.
When we stop talking to people we disagree with, or worse, ban them because their very existence is deemed “insensitive,” the extremists have already won.
Adelaide hasn’t just lost a festival. It’s lost its nerve. And that is the biggest tragedy of all.
