Writers SA Constellations Festival
From 28 February to 5 March – the week left vacant by this year’s cancelled Adelaide Writers’ Week – the local writing community, including authors, booksellers and publishers, will come together with a range of events for readers and writers under a one-off umbrella festival, 'Constellations'.
The umbrella festival has been organised by a broad range of local representatives, including booksellers, publishers and authors, with not-for-profit industry body Writers SA acting as a central point of communication and logistics. It was initiated to show support for the writers and readers who withdrew from Adelaide Writers’ Week 2026 in protest at the previous Adelaide Festival board’s discriminatory decision to cancel the appearance of Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah. The new board has subsequently apologised to Dr Abdel-Fattah and invited her to speak in 2027.
Under the heading of Constellations, organisers are inviting bookshops, libraries, schools and other venues and community groups across both Adelaide and the rest of the state to register events and get involved. Participants can organise an event independently, or the group is happy to play matchmaker, putting interested venues and authors in touch to coordinate details as needed.
In Conversation with Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah and Louise Adler AM
🕘 1 March,6:00pm to 7:00pm (ACDT)
📍 Adelaide Town Hall
Multi-award winning author and academic Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah joins former Director of Adelaide Writers' Week and leading publisher Louise Adler AM for a timely conversation on power, dissent, and the cost of speaking out.
Read more and purchase your ticket here
Freedom of the press under threat
🕘 2 March,12:00pm to 1:00pm (ACDT)
📍 Adelaide Town Hall
Join world-renowned journalist Peter Greste and author and TV producer Michael Delahaye as they delve into an era where the boundary between "tweets and bombs" is increasingly blurred, and the freedom of speech is under threat everywhere, including in Australia.
Read more and reserve your spot here
Rivers of Reason: Blak & Arab Writers in Conversation
🕘 2 March, 2:30pm to 7:30pm (ACDT)
📍 Adelaide Town Hall
Blak and Arab writers and poets share stories of family, being on/with Country, and diaspora. Speaking of their literary work, they explore truth-telling, commonalities between communities, solidarity and aspirations for the future.
Read more and reserve your spot here
When We Refuse: Cultural boycotts, artist strikes and creative solidarity
🕘 5 March,5:30pm to 8:00pm (ACDT)
📍 Vitalstatistix, Port Adelaide
A panel discussion with Ren Wyld (author and poet), Violette Ayad (actor/writer/director), and Ronan Gallagher (musician, Musicians for Palestine). Facilitated by author Jennifer Mills.
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