Premier Peter Malinauskas contemplated pulling government funding from Adelaide Writers’ Week as he was “genuinely disturbed” by a participant’s views on Ukraine, but said such a move risked paving the way for a future “where politicians decide what is culturally appropriate”.
The Premier made the comments last night at a Town Hall event to open Writers’ Week, after weeks of controversy about new director Louise Adler’s inclusion of two participants in the high-profile literary festival.
News that Palestinian American Susan Abulhawa and Palestinian poet Mohammed El-Kurd were on the bill sparked intense criticism and calls for Adler’s resignation for giving a platform to authors of “hate speech”.
Abulhawa’s social media comments on Israel and Ukraine, including a call to “DeNazify Ukraine” were highlighted, as were El-Kurd’s opinions about Israel.
Ukrainian writers Olesya Khromeychuk and Kateryna Babkina then withdraw from the event, as did Ukrainian-Australian Maria Tumarkin.
The Advertiser called on Adler to resign, pulled staff from scheduled events and said it was reviewing its sponsorship.
Law firm Minter Ellison withdraw its sponsorship, and Malinauskas announced that he would personally boycott Writers’ Week events.
Adler defended the choice of participants, saying the literary festival’s point was not to have an environment where everyone agreed with each other.
Read the article by David Eccles in InDaily.