'Their career is toast': writers' festival anguish

The spectacular implosion of Adelaide Writers' Week has sent shockwaves through the literary community as it grapples with the far-reaching consequences of losing one of its flagship events.

Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah has accepted an apology from the Adelaide Festival board for removing her from the writers' week program, saying she would consider its invitation to attend the 2027 event.

But there are no happy endings for the thousands of other people and businesses impacted by their very public feud, which triggered a boycott of the event by 180 speakers and the resignation of its renowned director and several board members.

The writers' week had been due to start in February but was cancelled after its program collapsed, with a new board and chair installed.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas had publicly proclaimed his approval of the board's decision to dump the Palestinian-Australian writer because of "cultural sensitivity" over the Bondi massacre.

Asked if he was worried about the event cancellation's impact on the state's economy, he replied: "Well, no, because the Adelaide Writers' Week is a free event, a no-ticket event, it generates zero revenue."

But literary community members have told AAP the impact of losing this year's event is seismic for a sector that is already struggling.

Writer and critic Beejay Silcox, who was scheduled to appear at six writers' week events, said she was angered by the premier's assertion.

"There's a huge economy, and the blast radius is massive, and that is absolute bullshit," she said.

"I'm so angry about (his comment), and it shows such a lack of understanding about how basic economies work.

"Economies of opportunity are massive, and it's never been harder to carve out a sustainable life on the page as a writer now."

She had read 19 books and lost up to $6000 in work in preparation for the event.

Adelaide Festival's 2025 Impact Report said the event - the third under director Louise Adler, who quit this week - had attracted a record-breaking 160,000 attendances across 166 sessions, spanning live and virtual formats, and with programming for schools, families and young adults.

The event was live-streamed into 70 libraries, schools, retirement villages and community centres, and its podcasts attracted more than 160,000 streams and downloads.

Angus Dillon - co-owner of Dillons Bookshop, which hosts the highly successful book tent on behalf of writers' week - said it was Australia's largest, most respected, longest-running literary festival and "hugely important" to authors, publishers and the event industry.

"The government, when they do their economic impacts on other events, they would surely know that it's not measured only by ticket sales," he said.

"It's measured by room nights and tourism and visitation, and often it's those things that are used as justification for investment in events."

He noted the controversy had generated international headlines.

"We normally celebrate stories about South Australia in the New York Times," he said.

"But this means global attention on the festival state not holding one of its most important events.

"The flow-on effect of having all of those people in town and Adelaide being the centre of the book universe for a week, all of that is gone - I think it's devastating for the book industry."

Wakefield Press publisher Michael Bollen said for those labouring on the front line of literature - publishers, authors, booksellers and subcontractors - the premier's comments "seem a bit dismissive".

"To say there's zero impact because it generates zero revenue is certainly not the case for authors, publishers and associated people and of course, there are actually ticketed events," he said.

"There's deals made behind the tents, there's publishing arrangements, there's interstate publishers meeting SA authors - all of that is important.

"Who knows how many souls from outside SA will cancel their visits, which means hotels, restaurants, pubs take a hit, and perhaps even other festival events."

Pink Shorts Press co-director Emily Hart said the loss of the festival was "heartbreaking, devastating".

"I think there's been quite a lot of rage in the community, as well as sadness," she said.

"The number of books sold at Adelaide Writers' Week is huge.

"We had books already ordered from our supplier that are now going to be returned, and for a small publisher like us, actually does represent quite a significant bit of income."

Australian Society of Authors chair Jennifer Mills said she had heard the writers' week book tent "takes easily half a million dollars a year".

"Book sales at Adelaide Writers' Week are hugely significant for writers," she said.

"And then there's also the more indirect economic loss from lost publicity, marketing, networking, all of the things that happen at festivals that you can't really measure the economic impact of.

"I would say that the recent attacks on freedom of expression threaten our literary culture and more broadly, authors already are struggling."

The average annual income of authors in Australia was $18,200 and "the opportunities for publication for debut authors are narrowing", she said.

"It's impoverishing literature in Australia and Australian culture as a whole."

With a state election just over two months away, both sides of politics expressed frustration with the intense publicity surrounding the event's cancellation.

"It's not my focus, right?" Mr Malinauskas said at a Port Augusta campaign event.

"I know plenty of people are obsessing about this at the moment ? but what I'm obsessing about is the sort of things that we're doing here."

Ms Silcox said festivals were where "work and opportunity and collaboration is made, when talent is spotted".

"The debut authors that were going to see a big free crowd, they've lost that chance," she said.

"I've spoken to a couple of publishers this week who were devastated that people they championed and really care about, really, their career is toast."

One book, at least, has enjoyed a sales surge.

Dr Abdel-Fattah's publisher, University of Queensland Press, has warned of extended wait times for copies of her book Discipline "due to an influx of orders".