After collapse and controversy, Adelaide writers’ week has a new director: ‘I don’t envy anyone in this position’
The Guardian
Overall Assessment
The article centers on Rosemarie Milsoms appointment as the new director of Adelaide Writers Week, using the contrast between her handling of political pressure and Adelaides collapse to explore leadership in cultural institutions. It emphasizes her principled stance, community impact, and personal history without overt editorializing. The Guardian presents a narrative of resilience and institutional integrity, grounded in direct sourcing and contextual depth.
"with the ashes of AWW still smouldering"
Sensationalism
Headline & Lead 90/100
Headline and lead effectively frame the story with accuracy and appropriate context, avoiding sensationalism while highlighting significance.
✓ Balanced Reporting: The headline accurately captures the central event (appointment of new AWW director) and includes relevant context (collapse and controversy), while quoting a third party to convey the difficulty of the role. It avoids hyperbole and clearly signals the article's focus.
"After collapse and controversy, Adelaide writersweek has a new director: I dont envy anyone in this position "
Language & Tone 90/100
Tone is largely objective, with only minor instances of metaphorical or loaded language; overall, the article avoids emotional manipulation and maintains professionalism.
✕ Loaded Language: The article uses Milsoms own words to describe political attacks ( shooting arrows up the freeway ), which carries a subtle critique, but overall tone remains measured and focused on actions rather than emotional appeals.
"I dare Chris Minns to say that in Newcastle. Theres safety in being in Sydney and shooting arrows up the freeway."
✕ Sensationalism: The phrase ashes of AWW still smouldering uses metaphor to describe the aftermath, adding mild dramatic flair, though not egregiously so.
"with the ashes of AWW still smouldering"
✓ Balanced Reporting: The article consistently reports actions and quotes without inserting the authors opinion, maintaining a professional distance and allowing sources to speak for themselves.
Balance 90/100
Sources are diverse, clearly attributed, and fairly represented, with strong emphasis on direct quotes and named actors.
✓ Proper Attribution: The article attributes claims clearly to individuals (Milsom, Minns, MacDonald) and presents multiple perspectives — festival leadership, political actors, funding bodies — without privileging one voice unduly.
"The premier, Chris Minns, called the Newcastle festival crazy and divisive but said he would not intervene"
✓ Balanced Reporting: Milsoms viewpoint is presented extensively, but the article includes counterpoints through direct quotes from political figures and references to public controversy, ensuring a range of stakeholder positions are visible.
"Aileen MacDonald asked for our funding to be revoked and I remember thinking, come to Newcastle and say that"
Completeness 95/100
The article offers rich, relevant context including political, personal, and institutional dimensions, enabling readers to understand the complexity of the situation.
✓ Comprehensive Sourcing: The article provides detailed background on the Adelaide writersweek collapse, the political interventions, and the funding controversy around Newcastle, giving readers necessary context to understand the stakes and parallels between the two festivals.
"The Adelaide festival board, which oversees AWW, had overridden the literary festivals director, Louise Adler, and disinvited the Palestinian-Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah over past comments shed made about Israel and Zionism."
✓ Comprehensive Sourcing: The article explains how Milsoms experience with the Bosnian genocide informs her perspective, adding depth to her leadership approach and resilience during controversy, which is relevant context for her decisions.
"Milsom was born in Bosnia, into a Bosnian Muslim family, and lost family in the Bosnian genocide; as such, she has strong personal views on politics but also knows the value of objectivity in leadership, and the democratic function of literary festivals."
Arts leadership is being framed as effective when it resists political pressure and maintains programming integrity
The article contrasts Milsom's successful stewardship of Newcastle Writers Festival—where she refused to disinvite a controversial author and achieved record attendance—with the collapse of Adelaide Writers Week due to board interference. This comparison frames strong, independent leadership as effective and politically responsive leadership as failing.
"Despite – or perhaps because of – the controversy, audiences galvanised around NWF: this year it celebrated record attendance (a 27% increase on 2025) and there were no protests or boycotts."
The Palestinian-Australian author and her community are framed as included and protected within the literary space
The article presents the invitation and defense of Randa Abdel-Fattah—a Palestinian-Australian writer—as a principled stand for inclusion. By showing that her inclusion did not lead to backlash but instead to increased engagement, the framing positions her and those like her as legitimate and welcome participants in public discourse.
"It was not yet public knowledge then that, as the director of Newcastle writers festival, Milsom had also booked Abdel-Fattah, five months earlier."
Arts funding and programming decisions are framed as legitimate when driven by community and artistic values, not political interference
The article emphasizes the economic and cultural benefits of the Newcastle festival to the local community and positions Milsom’s leadership as grounded in local accountability. This implicitly legitimizes arts funding when it serves community interests and delegitimizes political attempts to revoke it based on ideological disagreement.
"Come here and talk to all the businesses, the hotels that are booked out, the hire car company that picks the writers up from the airport, the local caterer, the local printers, the musicians that play in the lunch breaks, the tech and sound company. All local. Thousands of dollars invested in this community, before you even get to the audience."
Political intervention in arts programming is framed as untrustworthy and self-serving
The article highlights political figures (Premier Chris Minns, MP Aileen MacDonald) attacking the Newcastle festival and questioning its funding, but presents Milsom’s rebuttal that their criticism is detached from local economic and cultural realities. The framing implies political actors are acting in bad faith or for symbolic gain rather than public interest.
"I dare Chris Minns to say that in Newcastle. There’s safety in being in Sydney and shooting arrows up the freeway."
Adelaide Writers Week is framed as having entered a crisis due to poor governance, while Newcastle is framed as stable and resilient
The article uses strong metaphorical language ('implosion', 'ashes... smouldering') to describe Adelaide's collapse, while portraying Newcastle as having weathered the same pressure with calm and success. This contrast frames one institution as in crisis and the other as stable.
"with the ashes of AWW still smouldering"
The article centers on Rosemarie Milsoms appointment as the new director of Adelaide Writers Week, using the contrast between her handling of political pressure and Adelaides collapse to explore leadership in cultural institutions. It emphasizes her principled stance, community impact, and personal history without overt editorializing. The Guardian presents a narrative of resilience and institutional integrity, grounded in direct sourcing and contextual depth.
Rosemarie Milsom, former director of Newcastle Writers Festival, has been named the new director of Adelaide Writers Week after the 2026 event was cancelled due to a controversy involving the disinvitation of author Randa Abdel-Fattah and subsequent mass boycott. Milsom previously faced similar political pressure over the same author but maintained the booking, resulting in record attendance and no boycott.
The Guardian — Culture - Books & Radio
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The Guardian
