The writers' festival, which had a third of scheduled sessions cancelled, was held in the city of Bendigo.
The Bendigo Writers Festival boycott occurred in 2025 over a code of conduct adopted by the festival. The code mandated that speakers at the Bendigo Writers Festival avoid divisive topics, and that those speaking at events hosted by La Trobe University comply with the university's anti-racism plan, which adopted a broad definition of antisemitism construed to include anti-Zionist criticism of Israel. More than 50 writers and academics withdrew from the festival, including Randa Abdel-Fattah, an Australian academic of Palestinian descent, and Evelyn Araluen, a First Nations poet, arguing that it would stifle their freedom of expression. When the festival was held on 15–17 August 2025 in Bendigo, Victoria, around a third of events in the scheduled program were cancelled as a result of the boycott.
A building at the La Trobe University campus in Bendigo. La Trobe University hosted a number of panels at the festival.
A code of conduct was distributed to a number of planned speakers at the Bendigo Writers Festival on 13 August 2025, two days before the festival was set to begin.[1][2] The code of conduct required participants to avoid discussing "language or topics that could be considered inflammatory, divisive, or disrespectful".[2][3] Additionally, for speakers involved in "La Trobe Presents" panels hosted by La Trobe University, compliance with the university's anti-racism plan was mandated.[1][2] La Trobe University abides by the Universities Australia definition of antisemitism, which declares that Zionism is a core part of Jewish identity for "most, but not all Jewish Australians", and states that using the word "Zionist" in place of "Jew" does not preclude antisemitic speech.[1] This led to a number of writers and academics who had planned to appear at the festival deciding to boycott the event, including Randa Abdel-Fattah, Evelyn Araluen, Jeanine Leane, Kate Mildenhall, Jess Hill, Thomas Mayo and Claire G. Coleman.[1][3]Clare Wright, a professor at La Trobe University who was set to co-curate the La Trobe Presents program, also withdrew from the festival for "personal and professional reasons" which involved the introduction of the code of conduct.[2][3] In total, more than 50 speakers withdrew from the festival.[4] Bookish, a Bendigo-based bookstore which had sold books at three previous editions of the festval, also withdrew from the event due to concerns over the perceived censorship effects of the code of conduct.[5][6]
Abdel-Fattah cited her Palestinian identity as a key reason for boycotting the festival, arguing that it would require her to "engage in complete self-censorship".[2] Araluen stated that she had a responsibility to speak out against Israeli campaigns of genocide against Palestinians, which she described as "ongoing" and "UN-defined", and added that the definition of antisemitism went against her freedom of speech and "cultural duty as a First Nations woman".[1][3] Following approaches from speakers at the festival, the Human Rights Law Centre wrote to the Bendigo Writers Festival expressing concerns over the code of conduct.[3]
For the festival, held from 15 to 17 August, the boycott resulted in the cancellation of a large number of events, including its opening night gala.[7][8] On the festival's opening day, 21 sessions were refunded and cancelled by event organisers as a result of writers withdrawing.[4] A 16 August statement from the Greater Bendigo City Council said that "more than half" of the festival's program would be held by its conclusion.[6] Ultimately, the boycott contributed to the withdrawal of 53 participants from the festival, with 22 sessions being cancelled, totalling a third of the planned program.[9]
Reactions and aftermath
The organisers of the Bendigo Writers Festival issued a statement emphasising their commitment to open and respectful debate and discussion, stating that the code of conduct was typical of other writers' festivals and necessary for the safety and wellbeing of panelists and attendees.[3][2] A representative of La Trobe University stated that the university wanted to make the event "safe, inclusive and equitable for all members of our community".[2]
The Australian Society of Authors condemned the code of conduct, arguing that writers' festivals should not be in the business of policing the speech of authors, with deputy chair Jennifer Mills arguing the code at the Bendigo Writers Festival was created to make writers "fearful and nervous".[10] A number of other writers' festival organisers concurred with the criticisms expressed by the boycotters, with representatives of the Sydney and Queenscliffe festivals praising the authors for advocating in favour of freedom of expression.[11]
It was reported on 18 August that the Australian Academic Alliance Against Antisemitism sent a letter to the Bendigo Writers Festival organisers on 21 July 2025 expressing concerns over the invitation of Randa Abdel-Fattah, describing her as "a direct threat to the Jewish community in Australia" due to her anti-Zionist views. The letter was published in full by news organisation Deepcut.[12][13] Abdel-Fattah responded by stating that the festival and university had entertained defamatory smears against her, and described the authors of the letter as a "pro-Israel lobby group".[13]
The boycott resulted in financial losses for a number of businesses in Bendigo, some of which had ordered extra stock for the festival. Foot traffic in the city was lower than expected during the weekend of the festival.[14]
At a Greater Bendigo City Council meeting on 15 September, Victorian Socialists councillor Owen Cosgriff called for a review of the circumstances that led to the boycott, arguing that decisions of the council in advance of the code of conduct release had not been fully revealed. Cosgriff also added that the code of conduct and resultant boycott had caused great damage to Bendigo's reputation.[15]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
