KPMG has asked organisers of the Sydney Writers’ Festival to remove its logo from a “partners” section on the website, after pro-Palestinian author Randa Abdel-Fattah was added to the program.
It was recently announced that the author and academic will be featured in two parts of the Sydney Writers’ Festival program in 2026.
Sky News reports that following the publication of the guest list, the list of “partners” section on the Sydney event’s website disappeared.
A Sydney Writers’ Festival spokesperson told SkyNews.com.au: “KPMG audit the Festival and according to their definition, are not considered a ‘partner’.
“The website now reflects this. Sydney Writers’ Festival have many wonderful partners and supporters, and we are grateful to all of them.”
Randa Abdel-Fattah to appear at Sydney Writers’ Festival
A statement from festival chief executive Brooke Webb and artistic director Ann Mossop said Abdel-Fattah is a “significant Sydney writer”, adding the festival holds “freedom of expression as a core value”.
The announcement comes after Abdel-Fattah was uninvited from Adelaide Writers’ Week, part of the Adelaide Festival, last month, after pressure from the South Australian government.
The controversial decision led to a large number of planned speakers boycotting the event, the resignation of the Adelaide Festival’s entire board, and the event’s eventual cancellation.
Posts from Adelaide Writers’ Week earlier this year. Image: Instagram
Adelaide Writers’ Week uninvited Abdel-Fattah because of her previous comments that Zionists “have no claim or right to cultural safety,” a sentiment they found especially sensitive in light of the December 2025 Bondi mass shootings.
Abdel-Fattah also made a 2024 social media post, saying: “The goal is decolonisation and the end of this murderous Zionist colony”, with a video claiming that Israel’s existence depended on violence against Palestinians.
In a statement in response to questions from ABC News about that comment, she said her “post made clear that I oppose the espousing of Zionist ideology [but] NEVER the unsafety of Jews”.
Abdel-Fattah has been invited to attend Adelaide Writers’ Week next year.
The Sydney Writers’ Festival statement said they respected “that public figures and members of the community may hold different views” to Abdel-Fattah.
“A festival like ours, which holds freedom of expression as a core value, is not in the business of cancelling or censoring writers.”