Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah is back in the headlines after being removed from the Adelaide Writers’ Week 2026 program in the wake of the Bondi terror attack.
Festival organisers say the decision wasn’t about linking Randa or her work to the attack, but about concerns that, based on her past public statements, her appearance could be culturally insensitive at this time. Randa has strongly rejected that explanation, accusing the festival of anti-Palestinian racism, censorship, and of trying to associate her with the Bondi massacre.
Dozens of high-profile authors, including Zadie Smith, Helen Garner, Hannah Ferguson and Peter Greste, have pulled out of the festival in solidarity.
In this episode, we revisit Antoinette Lattouf’s conversation with Randa on The Weekend Briefing, where she spoke candidly about a similar controversy at the Bendigo Writers Festival, the personal cost of sustained public attacks, and what it’s like to keep speaking out amid public scrutiny.
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