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The Guardian
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Writers festival requires ‘complete self-censorship' over Gaza war, academic says, as speakers withdraw in protest
A number of authors and academics have withdrawn from this weekend's Bendigo Writers festival over a speaker code that one says requires 'complete self-censorship' over Israel's war in Gaza. Academic and author Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah, First Nations poet Dr Evelyn Araluen and Wiradjuri writer and poet Jeanine Leane are among those who have withdrawn from the festival over the code. Prof Clare Wright, a guest curator at the festival and Latrobe University academic, has also withdrawn for personal and professional reasons which include the code, a source told Guardian Australia. Author Kate Mildenhall, who was due to moderate a festival session, said she was not sent the code of conduct but has since become aware of it. 'In solidarity with the other writers who are withdrawing and also because of my own personal beliefs about the ideas of censorship I felt I was unable to continue with my participation in the writers festival,' she said. The festival's code, viewed by Guardian Australia, says speakers should uphold respectful engagements which involves avoiding language or topics that 'could be considered inflammatory, divisive, or disrespectful'. A source told Guardian Australia Bendigo Writers festival (BWF) sent some speakers the code of conduct on Wednesday – two days before the opening day. The code says that for 'La Trobe Presents panels', speakers must comply with the principles espoused in La Trobe University's Anti-Racism Plan, including the plan's definitions of antisemitism and Islamophobia. Dr Abdel-Fattah, a Macquarie University academic, said she could not appear at the festival 'as a Palestinian'. 'The actual wording of [the speaker code and La Trobe policy] requires me to engage in complete self-censorship, so, such as a profound act of gaslighting,' she said. La Trobe's 2025-2030 plan adopts University Australia's antisemitism definition. The adoption of a sector-wide definition earlier this year emerged as a key recommendation of a report on antisemitism on Australian university campuses, which found there was an 'urgent need for reform' to ensure the safety of Jewish students and staff. The definition states that antisemitism is: 'discrimination, prejudice, harassment, exclusion, vilification, intimidation or violence that impedes Jews' ability to participate as equals in educational, political, religious, cultural, economic or social life'. It states that criticism of the policies and practices of the Israeli government or state is 'not in and of itself antisemitic' but further reads: 'Criticism of Israel can be antisemitic when it is grounded in harmful tropes, stereotypes or assumptions and 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 …' Some academics at Australian universities have warned the definition could have a 'chilling' effect and limit the scope of what can be taught on the Middle East. Abdel-Fattah said La Trobe's anti-racism plan makes no mention of anti-Palestinian racism. It includes a definition of Islamophobia – discrimination that may be racial, religious or cultural in nature and is defined as an irrational fear, hatred or prejudice of Islam, Muslims, Islamic traditions and practices, and those who appear to be Muslim. Abdel-Fattah said her new novel, Discipline, is centred on the story of a Palestinian author and journalist. 'The book is all about how their voices are repressed and censored and how their voices are managed through the language of policies, through the language of civility and politeness and not offending others,' she said. La Trobe University is one of the festival's partners. Wright was a guest curator of the festival's 'La Trobe Presents panels'. Araluen, a Goorie and Koori poet, said she hoped audiences would reconsider whether they wanted to attend a festival that has made it impossible for people to speak openly about their work, experiences or perspectives. 'It's really important to make sure that the art sector is not divorced from law and from policy and from morality,' she said. 'You can't place this form of censorship on artists and writers when we're being told to discuss things like First Nations, languages and the history of political representation of Aboriginal people, as is the event that I was programmed to speak on.' The programme of the two-day festival in regional Victoria says it includes events featuring 80 writers and speakers. The Bendigo Writers festival and La Trobe University have been contacted for comment.
The Guardian
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Award judges resign after Queensland state library strips writer's prize over Hamas tweet
At least four judges for the Queensland literary awards have resigned over the past 24 hours, protesting against the State Library of Queensland's decision to withdraw a prestigious $15,000 fellowship from First Nations writer Karen Wyld over comment she made last year about the Gaza conflict. The 2022 Stella award winning poet Evelyn Araluen, Wiradjuri academic and writer Dr Jeanine Leane, writer and reviewer Nigel Featherstone and Gamilaroi poet Luke Patterson all confirmed to Guardian Australia on Friday they have resigned from the awards' judging panels. It is believed several other judges have also resigned, but wish to remain anonymous. Wyld, who now writes under the name K A Ren Wyld, first learned her black&write! fellowship for her manuscript on the Stolen Generations had been withdrawn from a News Corp journalist on Tuesday morning, just hours before she was due to accept the award in Brisbane. Wyld said at a meeting called shortly after the journalist made contact, the library chief executive, Vicki McDonald, referred to a tweet Wyld had posted about the death of the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in October, which referred to him as a martyr. Wyld deleted the tweet shortly after posting it. On Friday, the State Library of Queensland confirmed it had received a written direction from the state arts minister, John-Paul Langbroek, on Monday stating: 'It is my firm view and direction under Section 23 of the Libraries Act 1988 and I am sure the view of most Queenslanders, that Ms Wyld should not receive the award in a Queensland Government or State Library of Queensland venue.' A spokesperson for Langbroek told the Guardian the minister supported the library's decision to postpone the awards, and stood by the comments he made in parliament where he said that taxpayer-funded awards should not be granted 'to individuals who justify terrorism'. Earlier this week, a statement by a spokesperson for McDonald said the library's decision to 'postpone the black&write! ceremony' had been made after Langbroek's comments in parliament, in which he said he had 'taken the decision that this award should not be presented' at the state library. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email In Araluen's letter of resignation to the library, the Dropbear author told McDonald she was 'disgusted' by the library's decision to rescind Wyld's fellowship and the Queensland government's 'flagrant ministerial overreach', and was withdrawing as a judge in the Queensland literary awards' Judith Wright Calanthe award. 'I will not participate in a system that values thought-policing and the silencing of anti-genocidal sentiments over the integrity of artists,' she wrote. 'By conceding to this flagrant weaponisation of the mere perception of a bad-faith assumption of anti-Semitism, wielded against a First Nations author who has been so central to the Blak literary community, the State Library have made themselves liable for the consequences of this decision. 'The reputational harm of this choice will not be ignored by the literary and First Nations community.' Featherstone, a judge in the awards' fiction category, said he was unwilling to participate in a process where a panel's recommendations could be overruled by the arts minister, 'in effect, imposing further political silencing'. He told the Guardian there were two 'eminently competitive' books nominated in the category he was judging that dealt directly with the conflict in Gaza. 'Should the panel decide that those titles and their authors be shortlisted, or if one is recommended as the winner, will the minister be overturning those decisions too?' he asked. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Fellow fiction prize judge Leane said after careful thought she decided she had no other option than to resign. 'I cannot be complicit in this discourse that denies genocide and that tries to shut down any artist, not just First Nations, any artist or writer who wants to speak out against what is happening in Palestine,' she said. 'Ren's manuscript was not about Palestine, it was actually about the cultural genocide here … they're shutting down two discussions here … they're shutting down two truths.' The Australian Society of Authors said it intended to write to the Queensland premier and the arts minister to 'call for a strong stance on freedom of expression and independent arts funding processes'. 'This represents yet another alarming instance of the undermining of freedom of expression and arms-length arts funding,' the ASA said in a statement. 'It sets a dangerous precedent for creators – irrespective of their political views – that opportunities awarded on the basis of literary merit can be retracted if the creator is subject to complaints about their political ideas and expressions. It is vital that arts funding opportunities are independent from government interference.' The library declined to comment on the judges' resignations.
