New Literary Festival Proposed for Adelaide After Writers' Week Cancellation

Adelaide's lord mayor has described a proposal for an alternative literary festival to fill the void left by the cancellation of this year's Writers' Week as "not much more" than a "thought bubble", saying the council was reluctant to commit funding without further details and guarantees. But a councillor who has backed the push for the event and expressed confidence it would go ahead regardless said it had the potential to attract authors of international standing. A motion went before Adelaide City Council last night, asking it to assist literary body Writers SA manage what has been described as a "guerilla" event proposed in lieu of the scrapped Adelaide Writers' Week, including by providing up to $250,000. Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith told ABC Radio Adelaide while the council had not ruled out possible financial support, it had at this stage rejected providing funds on that scale. "We made a decision and we gave a commitment that we would talk and work with the proponents — that's as far as we've gone and as far as you can go," she said. "It was perhaps premature to come and ask for the money because, although we do support events, I'm not going to write a cheque for something that doesn't actually exist." Last week, it was revealed Writers SA — the state's peak organisation for writing and literature — and local publisher Pink Shorts Press were coordinating on a new literary festival to replace Writers' Week. The original event, scheduled to run from February 28 to March 5, was cancelled amid the national controversy and author boycott generated by the exclusion of Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah. Dr Lomax-Smith said she thought an alternative event of some kind was feasible, but added that at this stage, it was an "aspiration" only. "It's a little bit more than a thought bubble, but not much more," she said. Adelaide city councillor Keiran Snape, who jointly put forward the motion and has backed the proposal, said the council had nevertheless offered its in-principle support for the event and had committed to making council sites — such as the Town Hall and parklands — available. "We're talking about a wide variety of Adelaide City Council-owned venues and properties," he said. "It's not inconsequential — there's significant cost involved in hiring these, and my understanding is that we are covering those costs as a council." Dr Lomax-Smith said, given the circumstances, any event would "not be the same as Writers' Week" — but Cr Snape said he was "not suggesting otherwise". "I understand the lord mayor's scepticism, but I think she's also — and [I'm] politely saying — underestimating the ability of these grassroots creatives," he said. "My understanding is, this event is happening regardless of council's involvement, but council support will allow it to scale up and make it more significant than it would have otherwise been." Cr Snape said the program of the event was a matter for organisers, not the council. But he said he would not object to Dr Abdel-Fattah and American journalist Thomas Friedman — whose non-appearance at the 2024 Writers' Week has also been a source of controversy — appearing at the event, should organisers decide to invite either or both of them. "If Dr Randa were to be invited, then good on the group for doing so, but that's not a decision for the council to make," he said. In a statement, Writers SA said it was grateful for the council's resolution to make its venues available for the proposed event, which has been dubbed Not Writers' Week — Constellations. The group said it was in talks with the Adelaide Festival about "how they can appropriately support these activities outside the banner" of the festival itself. "This is not a Writers SA initiative, but instead a project that we have, in response to our writing and reading community, agreed to support," it said. It said Constellations remained a proposal at this stage, but would be an "umbrella event that will allow writers, organisations, and literary community members" to come together "in the absence of Writers' Week". "There will be an announcement launching the Constellations initiative shortly, which will invite wider participation from the community," it said. "Writers SA will continue to work with the diverse group of individuals, which includes writers, publishers, and booksellers, who have initiated this response to the cancellation of Adelaide Writers' Week and to engage with the council, Adelaide Festival, and others to take Constellations forward."