The Sydney Writers’ festival program is due to be announced in weeks but its chair Kathy Shand, who is Jewish, has sent her resignation to board members.
The Sydney Writers’ festival program is due to be announced in weeks but its chair Kathy Shand, who is Jewish, has sent her resignation to board members.
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- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
By Paul Sakkal and Linda Morris
February 24, 2025 — 2.48pm
The chair of the Sydney Writers’ Festival has quit on the eve of the annual event, over concerns it fails to present a range of opinions on issues such as the current conflict in the Middle East.
With the speaking program to be announced in weeks, Kathy Shand, who is Jewish, sent her resignation to board members of the prestigious organisation in recent days, warning about the festival’s reputation.
Two sources familiar with the festival’s operations said there had been a years-long tussle over the emphasis placed on showcasing a diversity of views on issues such as the Middle East conflict and geopolitics.
This year’s program was due to be announced in mid-March and there has been debate about the speaking list. Last year’s festival hosted contentious pro-Palestinian activist and feminist Clementine Ford.
It is not clear which speakers on this year’s list were the subject of debate within the writers’ festival. The program was to be released on March 13 and the festival will start on May 19.
“Artistic freedom and independence are to be guarded and cherished,” Shand wrote in a resignation statement. “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.
“Every session that is planned needs to reflect the values of the festival and represent the highest standard of consideration and curation.
“The reputation of the Sydney Writers’ Festival has been hard won and is well deserved. This needs to be protected and great care needs to be taken with the stages that carry the imprimatur of the festival. At a time when cultural organisations are faced with challenges I wish the festival well.”
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Shand is also a judge of the prime minister’s literary awards, a board member of Sydney’s Jewish museum, and a former Opera House director and co-publisher of the Australian Jewish News.
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Her surprise resignation is the latest flare-up in the arts world stemming from domestic debate over the conflict in the Middle East. Earlier this month, federal government agency Creative Australia dropped artist Khaled Sabsabi as the nation’s representative to the Venice Biennale after the Coalition raised questions in parliament about two of his historical works: the 2007 You, depicting the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike last year, and Sabsabi’s video rendering of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the 2006 work titled Thank You Very Much.
Last year, the Melbourne Writers Festival experienced a similar fallout, as deputy chairman Leslie Reti quit over a line in the unpublished program for the event that was perceived as being anti-Israel by seeking to align Indigenous Australia with the Palestinian cause.
In December 2023, the Sydney Theatre Company was subject to a ticketing and donor boycott when three members of the cast of The Seagull donned Palestinian scarves for a curtain call.
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra last year cancelled one of the performances by pianist Jayson Gillham over comments he made on stage about the war in Gaza. He has since taken legal action against the MSO.
A year ago, the State Library of Victoria found itself subject to author boycotts over its decision to cancel workshops run by authors who expressed pro-Palestinian views, citing “child and cultural safety”.
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Paul Sakkal is federal political correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald who previously covered Victorian politics and has won two Walkley awards.Connect via Twitter.
Linda Morris is an arts writer at The Sydney Morning HeraldConnect via Twitter, Facebook or email.
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