Latest news with #QueenslandLiteraryAwards
ABC News
27-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Queensland Literary Awards program under review after fellowship revoked from First Nations writer
The Queensland State Library says it remains committed to freedom of expression despite a decision to rescind a $15,000 fellowship awarded to Indigenous writer K A Ren Wyld over comments about the conflict in Gaza made on social media last year. The decision was made by the state's arts minister John-Paul Langbroek, who wrote to the library's board on Monday May 19. The library said it was legally bound to follow the minister's order. "To comply with the direction, the fellowship was not awarded to K A Ren Wyld," the library said in a statement. "State Library values freedom of expression within the limits of the law." Quoting its Intellectual Freedom Policy the library's statement said: "Libraries [sic] support the free flow of information and ideas, [and] have a responsibility to oppose the infringement of intellectual freedom." Speaking to state parliament last Tuesday, Mr Langbroek said concerns had been raised about a social media post by Ms Wyld following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in October last year, which was deleted shortly after it was posted. "The author, via comments on social media, has praised the mastermind of the 7 October Hamas-led terror attacks as a 'martyr' and a 'hero'," Mr Langbroek said. "Words matter, and that is why we have taken the decision that this award should not be presented at the State Library." Multiple panel judges for the Queensland Literary Awards resigned following the decision. In a statement on social media, Ms Wyld said they flew to Brisbane to attend the announcement, which was scheduled for last Tuesday. On arrival, they said they were given the news by State Library CEO Vicki McDonald that the fellowship had been rescinded . "Clarifying what's happened is not Vicki's fault, or the Black&Write team and partner organisations," they wrote. "She was not able to give me much information. "I will not receive the $15,000 award money, and my manuscript will not be edited as part of the Black&Write program." Ms Wyld said they had been contacted prior to the Tuesday meeting by a News Corp journalist who informed them Queensland arts minister John-Paul Langbroek had written to the library directing them to void the fellowship. The State Library confirmed there will be an independent review of its awards and fellowships programs. "It will have specific focus on how we balance our strong commitment to freedom of expression and our role as a Queensland government funded cultural institution," a statement said. Academic and fiction prize judge Dr Jeanine Leane and writer and critic Nigel Featherstone made up half the four-person fiction prize panel — which wasn't judging Ms Wyld's manuscript — before they both resigned on Friday. Dr Leane said she resigned from judging the awards due to what she called an "intervention" into the arts scene. "This kind of interference into the art scene becoming a frequent occurrence in Australia, where projects and artists and writers are being shut down because of their political views and the opinions that they express," she said. She said such interventions shift the focus away from the work to serve political narratives. "That makes it not about art or writing, or creativity, or diversity, or the possibility of considering the multiplicities of truths and stories that may exist out there. "Shutting down a truth of someone expressing their concern for a genocide in Palestine, and shutting down the truth of the cultural genocide here that happened through the Stolen Generations — which is what [Ms Wyld's] manuscript was about." Mr Featherstone said it was not solely about Gaza but the "core principle" of freedom of speech in the arts. "For me, it actually doesn't matter what those political views are, whether they're highly conservative or highly progressive, I think they should be able to express those views and not lose work opportunities or awards, grants, or fellowships," he said. Author of Muddy People and non-fiction panellist Sara el Sayed said she found it "impossible" to continue to work with the library following the decision. "It's completely against what the values of the State Library and these awards should stand for, and honestly I think it completely undermines the whole process and this whole project that we're involved in," she said. "What is the point in judging a literary award if a politician can swoop in at the last second and, for whatever reason he decides, say 'this person cannot receive this award because I say so'?" Ms el Sayed said a review of the library's suite of awards wasn't necessary. "What I'm concerned about is, what's it going to find out, what's it going to uncover? Is it going to introduce more power for these ministers?
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.
