Latest news with #KarenWyld
Sydney Morning Herald
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Queensland literary awards under review after fellowship withdrawn from First Nations writer
The Queensland State Library has confirmed the black&write! fellowships will continue next year, after a First Nations author had a fellowship withdrawn over a social media post. Author Karen Wyld, who writes under the name K A Ren Wyld, made and then deleted a social media post on X, describing slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as a 'martyr' following his death in October last year. She was due to receive a $15,000 black&write! fellowship for Indigenous writers at a ceremony on May 20. However, the fellowship was revoked after Queensland Arts Minister John-Paul Langbroek wrote to the library's board on May 16 and again on May 19 to express his concerns. A library spokesperson said the decision to withdraw the fellowship was unrelated to Wyld's manuscript, which focused on the stolen generations and received 'high praise for its literary merit from the panel of expert judges'. When asked if it had been withdrawn at the request of the Queensland government, the spokesperson said the decision was made after Langbroek told parliament on May 20 he had 'taken the decision that this award should not be presented' at the state library. Langbroek said there was no place in libraries, music awards or in publicly funded venues for the 'glorification of terrorism', describing the post as 'deeply offensive'. 'This government will always defend freedom of speech including the arts, but that freedom does not extend to celebrating murder and violence, nor does it absolve individuals from the consequences of eroding public confidence or support,' he said. 'Whilst I support the principles of free expression and creative diversity, any perception that taxpayer-funded awards [are] being granted to individuals who justify terrorism undermines public trust, both in our institutions and in the cultural section sector more broadly,' he added.
The Age
27-05-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Queensland literary awards under review after fellowship withdrawn from First Nations writer
The Queensland State Library has confirmed the black&write! fellowships will continue next year, after a First Nations author had a fellowship withdrawn over a social media post. Author Karen Wyld, who writes under the name K A Ren Wyld, made and then deleted a social media post on X, describing slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as a 'martyr' following his death in October last year. She was due to receive a $15,000 black&write! fellowship for Indigenous writers at a ceremony on May 20. However, the fellowship was revoked after Queensland Arts Minister John-Paul Langbroek wrote to the library's board on May 16 and again on May 19 to express his concerns. A library spokesperson said the decision to withdraw the fellowship was unrelated to Wyld's manuscript, which focused on the stolen generations and received 'high praise for its literary merit from the panel of expert judges'. When asked if it had been withdrawn at the request of the Queensland government, the spokesperson said the decision was made after Langbroek told parliament on May 20 he had 'taken the decision that this award should not be presented' at the state library. Langbroek said there was no place in libraries, music awards or in publicly funded venues for the 'glorification of terrorism', describing the post as 'deeply offensive'. 'This government will always defend freedom of speech including the arts, but that freedom does not extend to celebrating murder and violence, nor does it absolve individuals from the consequences of eroding public confidence or support,' he said. 'Whilst I support the principles of free expression and creative diversity, any perception that taxpayer-funded awards [are] being granted to individuals who justify terrorism undermines public trust, both in our institutions and in the cultural section sector more broadly,' he added.
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.
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
First Nations writer stripped of $15,000 State Library of Queensland award over Gaza tweet
The State Library of Queensland has suspended its national Indigenous fellowships and withdrawn the award to one of this year's recipients over a social media post about Gaza. The First Nations writer Karen Wyld, who now writes under the name K A Ren Wyld, was stripped of her Creative Australia-funded $15,000 black&write! fellowship, less than five hours before it was to have been awarded to her, over comments she made on social media in October about the conflict in Gaza. The entire ceremony, due to take place in Brisbane on Tuesday afternoon, was cancelled without notice. The future of other First Nations awards and fellowships is now also under a cloud, including the David Unaipon award for an emerging Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writer, as the library launches 'an independent review of the suite of awards and fellowships we administer'. Speaking to Guardian Australia, Wyld said she would not be silenced by authorities intent on 'bullying nobodies like me' over their stance on the Gaza war. The Indigenous Adelaide writer had been awarded the fellowship for her 110,000-word manuscript documenting seven generations of stolen Indigenous children. But just after arriving at the State Library of Queensland on Tuesday afternoon she was surprised to receive an email from a News Corp journalist asking for comment on the decision to rescind her fellowship. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Ten minutes later, she said, she was ushered into a private room, where the library's chief executive, Vicki McDonald, informed her that the contract for her fellowship, which had previously been signed by the writer and the library's board, had been cancelled. 'She wouldn't tell me why or who was doing it … whether it was from the minister or the board [of the library],' Wyld said. 'She just said it didn't come from her.' Wyld said she told McDonald the withdrawal of the fellowship would add to an increasingly divisive public debate over the right of artists to speak out about Gaza. McDonald said it had been decided that was a risk worth taking, Wyld claimed. A spokesperson for McDonald said the decision to rescind Wyld's fellowship had been 'respectfully communicated to the writer at that time'. When asked if the fellowship had been withdrawn at the request of the Queensland government, the spokesperson said in a statement the decision had been made after the arts minister, John-Paul Langbroek, told parliament he had 'taken the decision that this award should not be presented' at the state library. 'Based on that decision, State Library of Queensland yesterday postponed the black&write! ceremony,' the statement said. A story published in The Australian on Tuesday afternoon said the grant had been withdrawn after Langbroek and the Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, wrote to McDonald and the library's chair, Debbie Best, voicing concerns about social media posts made by Wyld. Wyld said at their meeting 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. 'I probably could have worded it less emotional,' Wyld told the Guardian. 'It was mostly me being really devastated at the Albanese government's approach to the whole [Gaza] situation.' Wyld said the tweet bore no relevance to her hefty manuscript on the Stolen Generations, funded to the tune of about $40,000 from Creative Australia, for which she was awarded the fellowship. 'I wrote it to highlight that the Bringing Them Home report is 28 years old next week, and only 6% of the recommendations have been actioned,' she said. 'I wrote it to bring awareness to the stories of the Stolen Generations, to propose some positive features, because it ends in the future, and to talk about justice. It has nothing to do with anything else.' A statement posted on the State Library's website on Tuesday said the black&write! fellowships, 'awarded solely on the literary merit of submitted manuscripts', were designed to encourage and support First Nations writers in fiction and poetry genres and facilitate publication. 'Regrettably, media coverage and commentary today in relation to the personal views of the recommended recipient has overshadowed the intent of the awards,' the statement said. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'This has significantly impacted the individual artists and people involved.' The statement did not name Wyld or state that her fellowship had been withdrawn. The library's statement said it would undertake an independent review of the awards and fellowships it administered. 'It will have specific focus on how we balance our strong commitment to freedom of expression and our role as a state government funded cultural institution,' the statement said. Crisafulli's office did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Langbroek referred the Guardian to his speech delivered to the legislative assembly on Tuesday, less than two hours before the ceremony was due to begin, confirming the Queensland government had intervened. Langbroek told parliament it was incumbent on the State Library's board to ensure that the activities and associations of the library reflected community standards and upheld the integrity of the institution. 'Whilst I support the principles of free expression and creative diversity, any perception that taxpayer-funded awards being granted to individuals who justify terrorism undermines public trust, both in our institutions and in the cultural sector more broadly' Langbroek said. 'Whilst individuals are free to hold and express their views, we must ensure that publicly funded arts programs and venues are held to the highest standards, promoting artistic excellence and fostering social cohesion … Words matter, and that's why we've taken the decision that we have said to this board that this award should not be presented at the State Library.' The federal arts minister, Tony Burke, said in a statement on Wednesday the decision was a matter for Creative Australia. 'On support for artists, I never interfere with the decisions of Creative Australia,' he said. 'We brought back arm's-length decision-making in the arts. 'The moment you start [interfering], you become George Brandis,' he said, referring to a previous Liberal government decision on arts funding that redirected $104.7m from Creative Australia – then called the Australia Council – to a separate kitty, to be dispensed at the discretion of the then arts minister, Brandis. However, Creative Australia told the Guardian it was not consulted about the decision to withdraw Wyld's fellowship. 'Decisions about recipients are made independently by the library,' its statement said. 'Creative Australia provides funding to the State Library of Queensland's black&write! program, but plays no role in selecting, approving, or rescinding individual fellowships.' The national black&write! fellowships have furthered the careers of more than a dozen First Nations writers since Creative Australia began funding them in 2014. The fellowships also come with a publishing contract, which this year was to have been signed with University of Queensland Press. The Guardian has sought comment from UQP.
