‘Not a time for silence': More than 30 authors quit Bendigo Writers Festival
On Wednesday, participants in the La Trobe University stream of the festival received a code of conduct, detailing what they can and can't say at the event. Since then, others in the line-up have been told the code would be in their festival pack when they arrived.
Some 34 writers have now pulled out in protest, the latest group including Melanie Cheng, Jock Serong and Thomas Mayo. As reported on Thursday, La Trobe history professor Clare Wright, who co-curated the La Trobe series within the BMF, has also resigned, along with Overland editor and Stella Prize winner Evelyn Araluen and academic and author Randa Abdel-Fattah.
Others include Jess Hill, Claire G. Coleman, Sonia Orchard, Daniel James, Fiona Stanley, Kirstin Ferguson, Michelle Scott Tucker, Kylie Mirmohamadi, Kate Larsen, Jaclyn Crupi, Cher Tan, Madison Griffiths, Kelly Gardiner, Sarah Firth, Rachel Ang, Bernard Caleo, Ita Mehrotra, Jonathan Butler, Jeanine Leane and journalist/author Paul Daley.
Some have withdrawn in protest at being asked to sign the code of conduct; others in solidarity despite not being asked to sign themselves. The withdrawals are happening so rapidly the festival seemingly can't keep up. Events involving participants who have announced their withdrawal via social media still have those listed as active on the website.
The code of conduct says participants are expected to engage in 'conversations that are inclusive, thoughtful, and welcoming to diverse perspectives. Avoid language or topics that could be considered inflammatory, divisive, or disrespectful'.
'Writers' festivals are meant to be the places where you can discuss sensitive issues – the other places are universities,' says one author who preferred not to be named.
Kate Mildenhall, author of The Mother Fault, who has withdrawn, said the code of conduct impeded free and frank discussion. One of the questions she was going to raise at her session was 'How do you see censorship in literature playing out in the world at the moment?'.
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Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Not a time for silence': More than 30 authors quit Bendigo Writers Festival
Bendigo Writers Festival has cancelled its opening night gala, hours out from the event, and a number of sessions have also been cancelled as the list of writers withdrawing from the event over free speech concerns continues to grow. On Wednesday, participants in the La Trobe University stream of the festival received a code of conduct, detailing what they can and can't say at the event. Since then, others in the line-up have been told the code would be in their festival pack when they arrived. Some 34 writers have now pulled out in protest, the latest group including Melanie Cheng, Jock Serong and Thomas Mayo. As reported on Thursday, La Trobe history professor Clare Wright, who co-curated the La Trobe series within the BMF, has also resigned, along with Overland editor and Stella Prize winner Evelyn Araluen and academic and author Randa Abdel-Fattah. Others include Jess Hill, Claire G. Coleman, Sonia Orchard, Daniel James, Fiona Stanley, Kirstin Ferguson, Michelle Scott Tucker, Kylie Mirmohamadi, Kate Larsen, Jaclyn Crupi, Cher Tan, Madison Griffiths, Kelly Gardiner, Sarah Firth, Rachel Ang, Bernard Caleo, Ita Mehrotra, Jonathan Butler, Jeanine Leane and journalist/author Paul Daley. Some have withdrawn in protest at being asked to sign the code of conduct; others in solidarity despite not being asked to sign themselves. The withdrawals are happening so rapidly the festival seemingly can't keep up. Events involving participants who have announced their withdrawal via social media still have those listed as active on the website. The code of conduct says participants are expected to engage in 'conversations that are inclusive, thoughtful, and welcoming to diverse perspectives. Avoid language or topics that could be considered inflammatory, divisive, or disrespectful'. 'Writers' festivals are meant to be the places where you can discuss sensitive issues – the other places are universities,' says one author who preferred not to be named. Kate Mildenhall, author of The Mother Fault, who has withdrawn, said the code of conduct impeded free and frank discussion. One of the questions she was going to raise at her session was 'How do you see censorship in literature playing out in the world at the moment?'.
The Age
2 days ago
- The Age
‘Not a time for silence': More than 30 authors quit Bendigo Writers Festival
Bendigo Writers Festival has cancelled its opening night gala, hours out from the event, and a number of sessions have also been cancelled as the list of writers withdrawing from the event over free speech concerns continues to grow. On Wednesday, participants in the La Trobe University stream of the festival received a code of conduct, detailing what they can and can't say at the event. Since then, others in the line-up have been told the code would be in their festival pack when they arrived. Some 34 writers have now pulled out in protest, the latest group including Melanie Cheng, Jock Serong and Thomas Mayo. As reported on Thursday, La Trobe history professor Clare Wright, who co-curated the La Trobe series within the BMF, has also resigned, along with Overland editor and Stella Prize winner Evelyn Araluen and academic and author Randa Abdel-Fattah. Others include Jess Hill, Claire G. Coleman, Sonia Orchard, Daniel James, Fiona Stanley, Kirstin Ferguson, Michelle Scott Tucker, Kylie Mirmohamadi, Kate Larsen, Jaclyn Crupi, Cher Tan, Madison Griffiths, Kelly Gardiner, Sarah Firth, Rachel Ang, Bernard Caleo, Ita Mehrotra, Jonathan Butler, Jeanine Leane and journalist/author Paul Daley. Some have withdrawn in protest at being asked to sign the code of conduct; others in solidarity despite not being asked to sign themselves. The withdrawals are happening so rapidly the festival seemingly can't keep up. Events involving participants who have announced their withdrawal via social media still have those listed as active on the website. The code of conduct says participants are expected to engage in 'conversations that are inclusive, thoughtful, and welcoming to diverse perspectives. Avoid language or topics that could be considered inflammatory, divisive, or disrespectful'. 'Writers' festivals are meant to be the places where you can discuss sensitive issues – the other places are universities,' says one author who preferred not to be named. Kate Mildenhall, author of The Mother Fault, who has withdrawn, said the code of conduct impeded free and frank discussion. One of the questions she was going to raise at her session was 'How do you see censorship in literature playing out in the world at the moment?'.
Sydney Morning Herald
06-08-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
What's driving the gender gap in our reading habits?
Won't somebody think of the young male novelist? Men, it is said, aren't writing novels any more. Or if they are, they aren't getting published. Or if they are getting published, their books aren't selling, getting noticed or winning prizes. One of the first to lament this apparent decline was American writer Jacob Savage. Armed with a battery of statistics, he claimed in Compact magazine that after 2014 'the doors shut' for male Millennials in the US: 'The literary pipeline for white men was effectively shut down … Diversity preferences may explain their absence from prize lists, but they can't account for why they've so completely failed to capture the zeitgeist.' He claims there's a lost generation of literary men who may not know how to say something genuinely interesting and new. Things got so dire in the mind of British novelist Jude Cook that he decided to set up an independent publishing house, Conduit Books, focussing on literary fiction and memoirs by men: 'overlooked narratives' on 'fatherhood, masculinity, working class male experiences, sex, relationships, and negotiating the 21st century as a man'. Conduit has already cut off open submissions, no doubt besieged with manuscripts. We will see its first titles next year. But is there really a decline and if so, what might have caused it? One reason is that we're still correcting for a very long period when men dominated literary culture. Indeed, that was why the Stella Prize and the Davitt Prize in Australia, the Women's Prize for Fiction in the UK and the Carol Shields Prize in Canada were set up, and I don't yet see any good evidence that they can shut up shop because their work is done. Maybe the perception of decline is because most agents and commissioning editors these days are women. Or maybe, as Savage says, male writers are floundering in their attempts to capture the zeitgeist. But perhaps the simplest explanation is that fewer men and more women are reading fiction. About 80 per cent of fiction sales are to women, who are also the most avid readers. Naturally, they want to read about issues that matter to them. Their reading ranges from literary to popular fiction, with the huge sales of female writers such as Colleen Hoover and the romantasy authors almost entirely driven by women. They are also keen to talk about books, in person and online, and recommend them to friends. No wonder publishers are looking out for more of the same. But why are fewer men reading? Are they discouraged because reading fiction seems to be a solitary pursuit that their peer group doesn't favour? Joseph Bernstein investigated the phenomenon for The New York Times and reckoned that to boost readership, 'it might be a matter of men approaching their reading lives a little more like women do – getting recommendations online from celebrities and influencers, browsing together, forming book clubs'.
