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Randa Abdel-Fattah to Appear at Constellations, Adelaide’s One-Off Alternative to Writers’ Week

The grassroots program follows the cancellation of the 2026 festival after a mass author boycott.

Overview

  • Abdel-Fattah will be in conversation with former Writers’ Week director Louise Adler at Adelaide Town Hall on March 1, in an event presented by the Australian Friends of Palestine Association.
  • Constellations will run February 28 to March 5 across multiple Adelaide venues, with most sessions free or by donation.
  • The program features several writers from the original Writers’ Week line-up, including Yanis Varoufakis, Clare Wright, Bob Brown and Melissa Lucashenko, with J. M. Coetzee set to read his work at a poetry event.
  • Adelaide City Council agreed to provide venues for Constellations but will not offer financial support.
  • The Adelaide Festival board previously rescinded Abdel-Fattah’s Writers’ Week invitation over her comments on Israel and Zionism, the state premier urged against her inclusion, and a new board has since apologised and invited her to the festival’s planned return in 2027.