Authors ditch Bendigo Writers Festival over freedom of speech concerns
Participants of the event were given a code of conduct, seen by this masthead, that stated they must 'avoid language or topics that could be considered inflammatory, divisive, or disrespectful'.
The code of conduct also required compliance with La Trobe University's definition of antisemitism. La Trobe has adopted the Universities Australia definition, which several universities around the country have not accepted, saying it conflates antisemitism with criticism of the Israeli government and anti-Zionism, and therefore prohibits people speaking out.
The code of conduct applies to the La Trobe component of the festival, co-curated by Professor Claire Wright - author of Naku Dharuk The Bark Petitions, which this week was short-listed for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards. Having devised nine sessions featuring the university's academics and alumni, Wright has also resigned in protest.
Others who have also withdrawn include journalist Jess Hill, authors Thomas Mayo, Kate Mildenhall, writer Claire G. Coleman, academic Randa Abdel-Fattah, poet and activist Jeanine Leane and journalist Paul Daley.
Araluen wrote to the BWF organisers saying the festival code of conduct 'directly infringes on my freedom of speech… my cultural duty as a First Nations woman and my obligation as someone with a large platform to speak out against oppression, which includes speaking out against Israel's ongoing UN-defined genocide of the Palestinian people.'
'After Israel's latest campaign to permanently silence Al-Jazeera journalists, most recently on
Monday, when 23 were killed in a targeted strike, it is reprehensible that a writers festival should
ask anyone, let alone a First Nations woman, to self-censor,' Araluen wrote.
Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah also wrote to the BWF to withdraw, saying 'I cannot take part in any festival that asks me to endorse a framework that demands my self-censorship.'
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The Age
11 hours ago
- The Age
‘Inflammatory, divisive, disrespectful': Bendigo Writers Festival founder speaks out
As such, it had given author Randa Abdel-Fattah, an Australian woman of Palestinian and Egyptian heritage, little choice, said Sorensen. 'She could do nothing other than withdraw,' she said. 'She has been subject to relentless, ruthless, unscrupulous attacks for years … other writers withdrawing in protest was absolutely the right thing to do.' Sorensen left the festival – which was always a council-funded event under her direction – in 2023, having intended to bow out earlier before the COVID-19 pandemic intervened. She was instrumental in seeking the involvement of La Trobe University academic Clare Wright as co-curator of the La Trobe Presents stream of the program, a move, she says, 'of which I'm proud'. Wright also withdrew from this year's event over the code of conduct issued to participants the day before the event began. The wording of the directive is taken from the Universities Australia statement on racism, to which La Trobe is a signatory. That definition has come in for criticism over its close alignment with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's 'working definition of antisemitism ', which some critics allege conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism. The Universities Australia statement states: 'Criticism of the policies and practices of the Israeli government or state is not in and of itself antisemitic. However, criticism of Israel can be antisemitic … when it calls for the elimination of the State of Israel or all Jews or when it holds Jewish individuals or communities responsible for Israel's actions.' Loading The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's position is that 'manifestations [of antisemitism] might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity. However, criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic'. 'Of course, it was about Gaza,' Sorensen said of the code of conduct. 'And I'd have thought such a directive is antithetical not just to a writers festival or a university but to a government and the society it is there to protect.' Though this year's event had turned into a disaster, it need not be the end for the Bendigo Writers Festival, its founder insisted. 'If there's an honest appraisal, an owning of this calamity, then I think writers will support it, too,' she said. Moves in Bendigo and elsewhere to curtail speech in the name of 'respectful debate', as festival organisers put it, were unnecessary and counter-productive, argued Sorensen. 'We have guard rails already,' she said. 'Governments at all levels, and cultural organisations at all levels, responding before the fact is not a guard rail. It's an authoritarian abuse of power and very dangerous for a healthy functioning democracy.' La Trobe University has defended its stance, stating that it was committed to fostering a culture that valued all forms of diversity. Loading 'La Trobe University does not tolerate racism of any kind, including antisemitism and Islamophobia. La Trobe's commitment to academic freedom and freedom of speech is consistent with our approach to creating safe environments for the free exchange of ideas,' a spokesperson said. 'Our Anti-Racism Action Plan, which includes a working definition of Islamophobia, was developed through extensive staff, student and community consultation.'
