Festival head quits as Middle East debate continues to split art world

The chair of the Sydney Writers’ Festival has quit on the eve of the annual event over concerns that 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.

The Sydney Writers’ Festival is releasing its line-up in weeks.

New board chair Robert Watkins confirmed Shand’s departure after 12 years in a statement offering no reason for the parting of ways.

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. The program was to be released on March 13 and the festival will start on May 19.

Kathy Shand has resigned from the writers’ festival.Credit: Kathy Shand

“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.”

Shand is also a judge of the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, a board member of Sydney’s Jewish museum, a former Opera House director and co-publisher of the Australian Jewish News.

Watkins praised Shand for her “dedication to championing writers
and fostering meaningful engagement”.

“The board firmly believes that the 2025 festival program, scheduled for announcement on March 13th, will demonstrably reflect the festival’s ongoing commitment to presenting a plurality of voices, a diversity of thought, and a program that will deeply engage our audience. This includes both Jewish and Palestinian writers and thought leaders,” he said.

Director of Adelaide Writers’ Week Louise Adler said literary festivals in Australia were not about resolving conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else.

She has curated two events for the festival in March: one on Islamophobia, featuring Waleed Aly, Susan Carland and special envoy to combat Islamophobia Aftab Malik, and an oration on antisemitism to be delivered by scholar Sir Simon Schama.

Adler came under fire in 2023 when controversy erupted over social media posts from two Palestinian writers she had programmed, prompting sponsor MinterEllison to withdraw from the festival.

“I like to quote Jacqueline Rose: ‘Balance is a corrupt term in an unbalanced world’,” Adler said.

“Invitations to writers are predicated on our curatorial judgement, that these writers are first-rate.

“It’s about the quality of their books, not the authors’ political position on the issues of the day … Our festival is a celebration of the written word. To use this year’s theme: ‘Words matter.’”

Shand’s surprise resignation is the latest flare-up in the arts world amid domestic debate over the Middle East conflict.

Creative Australia this month dropped artist Khaled Sabsabi as 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 deputy chairman Leslie Reti quit over a line in the unpublished program 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 a performance 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 when it cancelled workshops run by authors who expressed pro-Palestinian views, citing “child and cultural safety”.

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