Australia’s bookish are being asked to take a stand on something besides Gerald Murnane, and it’s causing conniptions.
Last week came the news that State Library Victoria had cancelled a series of free writing boot camps for teens (think fiction/nonfiction/playwriting/poetry) citing “child and cultural safety” in a time of “heightened sensitivities.” The workshops were pulled from the program suddenly, in the case of poet Omar Sakr, just 24 hours before the course he had prepared was meant to kick off.
Then late last month at the Perth Festival Writers Weekend, people gathered to protest outside the festival’s headlining event: a conversation with Australian musician Deborah Conway.
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