Canberra Writers Festival slammed for failing to represent local community and lacking diversity
ABCThe launch of the Canberra Writers Festival program for 2020 has garnered outrage from across the Australian writing community for what some are calling a lack of diversity. Key points: The Canberra Writers Festival is partly funded by the ACT Government It has been criticised for failing to be representative of Canberra's diverse writing community The festival says it took the opportunity of a live-streamed event to feature big international names In an open letter to the festival, published over the weekend, the ACT Writers Centre criticised the Canberra Writers Festival for producing a largely white cohort of writers and speakers for this year's coronavirus friendly event. 'The time for excuses has passed' In its letter to the festival, the ACT Writers Centre said it had drawn attention to a lack of diverse representation in the festival's program over the years. The ACT Writers Centre said Australia was "one of the most diverse countries in the world" and "writers festivals — indeed the writing infrastructure as a whole — must recognise, reflect and support that diversity". "Naturally, with the ACT Writers Centre's deep connection with the local scene, we welcome your input to the program, which ideally would be from September-December, when we are programming for the following year's festival.
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