Bendigo Writers Festival 2025 closes without ceremony
Bendigo Writers Festival cancelled its closing night ceremony on Sunday evening, along with more than twenty other sessions over the course of the festival weekend, which ran 15–18 August.
The cancellations were due to the mass withdrawal of authors from the program, with ABC News reporting more than 50 writers and hosts choosing not to appear, in protest against a code of conduct sent two days before the festival’s opening.
The festival bookshop Bookish also withdrew, saying ‘they could no longer continue their involvement with the festival in good conscience’.
The code of conduct was a revised version of the La Trobe University’s Anti-Racism Plan, which uses the Universities Australia definition of antisemitism and Islamophobia, and requires the ‘respectful exchange of views as well as community safety’.
Speaking to the ABC, writer Jess Hill ‘questioned why organisers would invite authors to speak if they did not trust they could engage in respectful debate’, while Claire G Coleman called the code ‘condescending’ and ‘insulting’: ‘I am not known for being polite or uncontroversial in my writing… so the idea that I can speak about anything about my books without potentially offending the audience is an impossibility,’ she told the ABC in further coverage of the event.
Australian Society of Authors CEO Lucy Hayward told Books+Publishing, ‘The ASA has heard from several authors dismayed at Bendigo Writers Festival’s Code of Conduct because of concerns it prohibits the free speech of presenters. We are becoming increasingly concerned about the overreach we’re seeing in Codes of Conduct for public appearances, which has the effect of stifling freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is a fundamental right, and the work of authors needs to be respected and valued.’
Meanwhile, festival founder and previous director (2012–2023) Rosemary Sorenson told the Age that ‘she took the directive as a deliberate attempt to stifle discussion of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, in response to Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attacks. However, if followed, the directive would also potentially have had the impact of stifling discussion of a vast range of topics, including sexual abuse and violence against women and children’.
Sorenson said that this year’s event ‘need not be the end for Bendigo Writer’s Festival’ and concluded that, ‘If there’s an honest appraisal, an owning of this calamity, then I think writers will support it, too’.
Bendigo Writers Festival posted on their social media that refunds for cancelled events were being automatically processed.
Category: Local news
