Over the past two years, programming a writers’ festival has become one of the most politically fraught undertakings in the Australian cultural sphere. Both Sydney and Melbourne writers’ festivals have seen board members resign over programming decisions, while Adelaide and Perth have fended off calls for the de-platforming of speakers on both sides of the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Literary events are traditionally lauded for their “restraint, reason and tolerance in the face of opposing views” – but writers’ festivals are now issuing safety tips and employing security as they navigate “the frontier between social media’s echo chambers of outrage and the traditional public square’s conventions”, the University of Melbourne journalism academic Denis Muller observed in the Conversation last year, after the resignation of the Melbourne writers’ festival’s deputy chair, Leslie Reti.
Whatever happened to civilised debate?
“It is an incredibly polarised environment in the arts,” the chief executive of Sydney writers’ festival, Brooke Webb, concedes, speaking to Guardian Australia on the eve of the launch of the 2025 festival’s program.
“Audiences want different things. Some audiences want us to be very bold and courageous, others want … a safe space. But the reality is that what a writers’ festival should do is create an opportunity for writers from many different backgrounds and many diverse perspectives to come and talk about their lived experiences.”
Webb declined to discuss the recent resignation of the Sydney writers’ festival chair, Kathy Shand, on the grounds that board deliberations remain confidential. At the time of her departure, Shand – also a board member of the Sydney Jewish Museum – issued a statement saying artistic freedom and independence were essential, but “freedom of expression cannot and should not be used as a justification to accept language and conversations that compromise the festival as a safe and inclusive space for all audiences”.
The Guardian has not been able to reach Shand for comment, but according to reports the dealbreaker was a perceived lack of diversity of views on the Israel-Gaza war held by authors booked for the 2025 festival.
Announced on Thursday, the 2025 Sydney writers’ festival program will be headlined by the British author Jeanette Winterson, who will celebrate the 40th anniversary of her novel Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit on opening night.
Samantha Harvey, the winner of the 2024 Booker prize for her novel Orbital, is scheduled to appear, along with the bestselling writers Liane Moriarty, David Nicholls, Marian Keyes and Maggie O’Farrell.
The British philosopher AC Grayling will discuss his new book, Discriminations, unpacking the ancient history of cancel culture. Other headliners including Charlotte Wood, Torrey Peters, Rumaan Alam, Alan Hollinghurst and Colm Tóibín.
The award-winning Australian author Anna Funder will deliver a closing address on writing in the age of artificial intelligence.
The Gaza conflict will be discussed directly during several sessions at the festival. Ittay Flescher, the Jerusalem correspondent for the Jewish Independent, who recently released his first book, The Holy and the Broken, will appear in conversation with Palestine’s most revered living writer, Raja Shehadeh.
The Palestinian poet and journalist Plestia Alaqad will discuss her forthcoming publication, an eyewitness diary of the war in Gaza; and reappear at Bankstown Poetry Slam, where last year her performance moved the audience to tears.
The Australia-born Egyptian-Palestinian author Jumaana Abdu will discuss her debut novel, Translations, and “exploring Palestinian-First Nations solidarity” – a topic that was at the heart of Leslie Reti’s resignation from the Melbourne writers’ festival board last year.
In the event Stories of Palestine, writers Sara Haddad, Hasib Hourani and Samah Sabawi will share their personal experiences as part of the Palestinian and Lebanese diaspora.
The American Jewish political commentator Peter Beinart will discuss the relationship between the Jewish diaspora and Israel, while the rise of antisemitism will be examined by the Jewish writer and international law expert Philippe Sands and the Walkley-winning journalist Michael Gawenda, author of My Life as a Jew.
And the Dutch-Israeli writer Yael van der Wouden, whose first novel, The Safekeep, was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker prize, will discuss the Holocaust and its impact in the Netherlands.
The artistic director of Sydney writers’ festival, Ann Mossop, told the Guardian that programming was not about counting up the number of guests on “both sides”.
“We have a vibrant community of Arab-Australian writers whose books have found an audience because of these current events,” she said. “People seem to be going in for counting this, or counting that … but we think this is kind of tokenistic and unfortunate, because what we’re doing is bringing voices from international perspectives.”
It was the role of a writers’ festival to encourage “complex, nuanced conversations”, she said.
“We’re not including people because of their political opinions, or excluding them. We’re choosing a variety of writers based on their work. And what we find is, regardless of how that plays on social media or media, that is what our audiences want.”
Mossop conceded that in the current political environment, getting the mix right did play into programming. But both Mossop and Webb said the concept of “balance” was inapplicable to festivals.
“Balance is a media construct that is really well employed by print, radio and television journalism,” Webb said. “A writers’ festival [should] nurture a space for really in-depth, nuanced conversations … If we’re talking about climate change, we won’t have a climate change denier and a climate change activist.
“It is an opportunity for writers … to talk about the experiences that have shaped their lives and shaped their work.”
