Zora Simic
@zorasimic.bsky.social
Lurking for now, but getting ready to roll
As usual, Randa Abdel-Fattah speaks with utter clarity and conviction.
podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/w...
podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/w...
Randa Abdel-Fattah on the collapse of the Adelaide Writers’ Festival
Podcast Episode · We Used to be Journos · 13/01/2026 · 36m
podcasts.apple.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:25 PM
As usual, Randa Abdel-Fattah speaks with utter clarity and conviction.
podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/w...
podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/w...
'When the Adelaide Festival Board’s statement is read closely, it follows the DARVO pattern almost line for line.'
- Natasha Joyce in Lantana Journal
www.lantana.net.au/words/empty-...
- Natasha Joyce in Lantana Journal
www.lantana.net.au/words/empty-...
Empty Words, Emptying Stages — Lantana
By isolating one writer as a potential risk, the institution produces a broader chilling effect in which participation itself becomes precarious. Public debate shrinks not because anyone is ordered to...
www.lantana.net.au
January 13, 2026 at 12:06 AM
'When the Adelaide Festival Board’s statement is read closely, it follows the DARVO pattern almost line for line.'
- Natasha Joyce in Lantana Journal
www.lantana.net.au/words/empty-...
- Natasha Joyce in Lantana Journal
www.lantana.net.au/words/empty-...
Reposted by Zora Simic
What is the end game here? No publicly funded cultural events that aren’t approved by Israel? No arts boards that aren’t pro-Israel? The sections of our political class and media who are active in this attempted gutting of our cultural landscape need to ask wtf they are doing here.
Exclusive: pro-Israel campaign seeks removal of Palestinian DJ from WOMADelaide
After ruining the Adelaide and Bendigo writers festivals, pro-Israel supporters are now targeting WOMADelaide’s inclusion of Sama’ Abdulhadi
www.deepcutnews.com
January 12, 2026 at 8:18 PM
What is the end game here? No publicly funded cultural events that aren’t approved by Israel? No arts boards that aren’t pro-Israel? The sections of our political class and media who are active in this attempted gutting of our cultural landscape need to ask wtf they are doing here.
Reposted by Zora Simic
welp. Looks like we have a date for Herzog arriving in Aust.
The first Day of Mourning in this country was held in Sydney on 26 January 1938.
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...
The first Day of Mourning in this country was held in Sydney on 26 January 1938.
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...
Albanese calls national day of mourning for Bondi victims on January 22
There will be a national day of mourning for the victims of the Bondi terror attack on January 22, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says.
www.abc.net.au
January 12, 2026 at 10:19 PM
welp. Looks like we have a date for Herzog arriving in Aust.
The first Day of Mourning in this country was held in Sydney on 26 January 1938.
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...
The first Day of Mourning in this country was held in Sydney on 26 January 1938.
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...
'Many years ago the former premier Don Dunstan touted Adelaide as the “Athens of the south”. Now South Australia’s tourism slogan could be “Welcome to Moscow on the Torrens”.' - Louise Adler resigns
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I cannot be party to silencing writers, which is why I am resigning as director of Adelaide Writers’ Week | Louise Adler
Cancelling the Australian Palestinian author Randa Abdel-Fattah weakens freedom of speech and is the harbinger of a less free nation
www.theguardian.com
January 12, 2026 at 10:19 PM
'Many years ago the former premier Don Dunstan touted Adelaide as the “Athens of the south”. Now South Australia’s tourism slogan could be “Welcome to Moscow on the Torrens”.' - Louise Adler resigns
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Zora Simic
Kind of shocking that Randa was the only Arab or Muslim writer booked for the Adelaide Writer’s Fest tbh.
January 9, 2026 at 2:26 AM
Kind of shocking that Randa was the only Arab or Muslim writer booked for the Adelaide Writer’s Fest tbh.
Reposted by Zora Simic
“The Adelaide Festival’s decision to dump Palestinian academic Randa Abdel-Fattah gives us a grim foretaste of the Australian cultural landscape in 2026.”
David Brophy on “ambient antisemitism” and the institutional mechanisms for curtailing protest and political expression.
David Brophy on “ambient antisemitism” and the institutional mechanisms for curtailing protest and political expression.
Universities and the arts after Bondi: from definitions to “ambient antisemitism” - Overland literary journal
The Adelaide Festival’s decision to dump Palestinian academic Randa Abdel-Fattah from its upcoming Writers’ Week gives us a grim foretaste of the Australian cultural landscape in 2026.
overland.org.au
January 8, 2026 at 10:52 PM
“The Adelaide Festival’s decision to dump Palestinian academic Randa Abdel-Fattah gives us a grim foretaste of the Australian cultural landscape in 2026.”
David Brophy on “ambient antisemitism” and the institutional mechanisms for curtailing protest and political expression.
David Brophy on “ambient antisemitism” and the institutional mechanisms for curtailing protest and political expression.
Reposted by Zora Simic
You can contact the Adelaide Festival here to express your opinion about their decision to ban Randa Abdel-Fattah. Please refrain from abuse.
Contact
www.adelaidefestival.com.au
January 8, 2026 at 4:55 AM
You can contact the Adelaide Festival here to express your opinion about their decision to ban Randa Abdel-Fattah. Please refrain from abuse.
Reposted by Zora Simic
Boycott the racist Adelaide Festival. If you are presenting or performing, withdraw. If you are attending, ask for a refund.
If you proceed with your engagement with Adelaide Festival, you have to be taken to mean that you think Arabs should be cancelled for being
If you proceed with your engagement with Adelaide Festival, you have to be taken to mean that you think Arabs should be cancelled for being
January 8, 2026 at 2:57 AM
Boycott the racist Adelaide Festival. If you are presenting or performing, withdraw. If you are attending, ask for a refund.
If you proceed with your engagement with Adelaide Festival, you have to be taken to mean that you think Arabs should be cancelled for being
If you proceed with your engagement with Adelaide Festival, you have to be taken to mean that you think Arabs should be cancelled for being
Reposted by Zora Simic
I am stunned and saddened by this announcement. Adelaide Writers Week has been an important platform for Arab and Palestinian voices these past few years. I greatly admire director Louise Adler and her fearless advocacy for freedom of speech. There will be more to come on this story, I’m sure.
Announcement by Adelaide Writers Festival cancelling invitation to Randa Abdel-
Fattah
Fattah
Adelaide Festival Board Statement
www.adelaidefestival.com.au
January 8, 2026 at 1:55 AM
I am stunned and saddened by this announcement. Adelaide Writers Week has been an important platform for Arab and Palestinian voices these past few years. I greatly admire director Louise Adler and her fearless advocacy for freedom of speech. There will be more to come on this story, I’m sure.
Randa Abdel-Fattah
wrote one of the most important & highly praised novels of recent times, but the board of Adelaide Writer's Week have cancelled her on the grounds of 'cultural sensitivity'. No hiding this racist BS. Boycott!
wrote one of the most important & highly praised novels of recent times, but the board of Adelaide Writer's Week have cancelled her on the grounds of 'cultural sensitivity'. No hiding this racist BS. Boycott!
January 8, 2026 at 3:47 AM
Randa Abdel-Fattah
wrote one of the most important & highly praised novels of recent times, but the board of Adelaide Writer's Week have cancelled her on the grounds of 'cultural sensitivity'. No hiding this racist BS. Boycott!
wrote one of the most important & highly praised novels of recent times, but the board of Adelaide Writer's Week have cancelled her on the grounds of 'cultural sensitivity'. No hiding this racist BS. Boycott!
post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't nirvana, pearl jam, soundgarden or alice in chains
easy! except it was so hard to choose between jeff buckley, liz phair and this:
easy! except it was so hard to choose between jeff buckley, liz phair and this:
December 28, 2025 at 5:20 AM
post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't nirvana, pearl jam, soundgarden or alice in chains
easy! except it was so hard to choose between jeff buckley, liz phair and this:
easy! except it was so hard to choose between jeff buckley, liz phair and this:
Reposted by Zora Simic
Australia's unique multicultural broadcaster, SBS, turned 50 in 2025.
Here's an insight into what SBS was like in the 1980s and how it enriched Australia, all of its people... and me.
Australia, the Balkans, languages and translation all roll into one here for me.
Here's an insight into what SBS was like in the 1980s and how it enriched Australia, all of its people... and me.
Australia, the Balkans, languages and translation all roll into one here for me.
SBS is 50!
Australia's unique multicultural broadcaster, SBS, turned 50 in 2025. Here's an insight into what SBS was like in the 1980s and how it enriched Australia, all of its people... and me.
www.nicknasev.com
December 26, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Australia's unique multicultural broadcaster, SBS, turned 50 in 2025.
Here's an insight into what SBS was like in the 1980s and how it enriched Australia, all of its people... and me.
Australia, the Balkans, languages and translation all roll into one here for me.
Here's an insight into what SBS was like in the 1980s and how it enriched Australia, all of its people... and me.
Australia, the Balkans, languages and translation all roll into one here for me.
I love your substack, and this was my favourite post so far- thanks!
December 27, 2025 at 4:38 AM
I love your substack, and this was my favourite post so far- thanks!
Reposted by Zora Simic
🚨 new article by Ruth Balint
academic.oup.com/past/advance...
academic.oup.com/past/advance...
The Jewish Refugee Family and Concerns Over Intermarriage in Australia After 1945∗
Abstract. Intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews was conceptualized as a ‘problem’ by the Australian Jewish establishment after the Second World War. From
academic.oup.com
December 26, 2025 at 12:19 AM
🚨 new article by Ruth Balint
academic.oup.com/past/advance...
academic.oup.com/past/advance...
This cause is close to my heart - please sign: petitions.getup.org.au/petitions/fr... @getup.org.au
ADD YOUR NAME ✍️ We will not be divided after Bondi
On Sunday at Bondi we witnessed the appalling consequences of hatred and how it breeds radicalisation and violence. But as the Jewish community and the whole country grieved, some politicians went on ...
petitions.getup.org.au
December 23, 2025 at 3:54 AM
This cause is close to my heart - please sign: petitions.getup.org.au/petitions/fr... @getup.org.au
Reposted by Zora Simic
Here, for @historyworkshop.org.uk I discuss the history of a refuge for trans women.
I show women’s shared experiences of violence across the spectrum of cis and trans.
I highlight histories of solidarity against male violence by feminists and trans women.
academic.oup.com/hwj/advance-...
I show women’s shared experiences of violence across the spectrum of cis and trans.
I highlight histories of solidarity against male violence by feminists and trans women.
academic.oup.com/hwj/advance-...
Reconsidering Violence Against Women through the History of a Refuge for Trans Women
Abstract. Both right-wing forces and gender-critical feminists currently frame cis and trans women’s needs as fundamentally different and conflicting. Viol
academic.oup.com
December 19, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Here, for @historyworkshop.org.uk I discuss the history of a refuge for trans women.
I show women’s shared experiences of violence across the spectrum of cis and trans.
I highlight histories of solidarity against male violence by feminists and trans women.
academic.oup.com/hwj/advance-...
I show women’s shared experiences of violence across the spectrum of cis and trans.
I highlight histories of solidarity against male violence by feminists and trans women.
academic.oup.com/hwj/advance-...
Reposted by Zora Simic
Following the horrific antisemitic attack at Bondi supporters of peace & rights for all in Israel Palestine are being slurred as supporters of terrorist atrocity. In a democracy peaceful protest is essential but NSW Premier Minns wants more powers to ban it. Write urgently to MPs using this template
Letter to NSW MPs: Protect democracy - don't ban protests
In an attempt to exploit the horrific trauma produced by the recent mass shooting that devastated the Jewish community in Bondi, the state NSW premier, Chris Minns, announced that Labor would move to ...
palestinejusticemovement.good.do
December 19, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Following the horrific antisemitic attack at Bondi supporters of peace & rights for all in Israel Palestine are being slurred as supporters of terrorist atrocity. In a democracy peaceful protest is essential but NSW Premier Minns wants more powers to ban it. Write urgently to MPs using this template
Reposted by Zora Simic
As we approach the end of 2025, historians @michellearrow.bsky.social and @zorasimic.bsky.social reflect on Anne Summers’ 1975 book, Damned Whores and God’s Police, fifty years later.
Read more here ⬇️
www.auswhn.com.au/blog/anne-su...
Read more here ⬇️
www.auswhn.com.au/blog/anne-su...
Anne Summers: Living in the Seventies | Australian Women's History Network
Vera Mackie joins Michelle Arrow and Zora Simic in commemorating fifty years of Anne Summers' 1975 feminist blockbuster, Damned Whores and God's Police.
www.auswhn.com.au
December 18, 2025 at 1:59 PM
As we approach the end of 2025, historians @michellearrow.bsky.social and @zorasimic.bsky.social reflect on Anne Summers’ 1975 book, Damned Whores and God’s Police, fifty years later.
Read more here ⬇️
www.auswhn.com.au/blog/anne-su...
Read more here ⬇️
www.auswhn.com.au/blog/anne-su...
& webpages with outdated info, staff photos and links
December 17, 2025 at 5:18 AM
& webpages with outdated info, staff photos and links
My tribute to the late Sneja Gunew, published in the terrific new collection Researching Migration on Indigenous Lands, edited by @pastmigrations & Francesco Ricatti- open access & packed with innovative scholarship
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
A Multicultural Nomad and Diasporic Intellectual: In Honour of Sneja Gunew
This chapter honours the work of Professor Sneja Gunew who died in January 2024. It pays particular attention to how her analyses of Australian multiculturalism remain pertinent to the pursuit of migr...
link.springer.com
December 17, 2025 at 4:28 AM
My tribute to the late Sneja Gunew, published in the terrific new collection Researching Migration on Indigenous Lands, edited by @pastmigrations & Francesco Ricatti- open access & packed with innovative scholarship
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
Reposted by Zora Simic
“But it’s also that this land, this beautiful Aboriginal land, was not made to hold such grief. It can, and it does, but it shouldn’t have this burden thrust upon itself.”
@jordanas.bsky.social on the logic of violence that permeates Australia.
@jordanas.bsky.social on the logic of violence that permeates Australia.
Yes, this is what Australia is - Overland literary journal
Imagine though the possibility of a response which was not horrid. Which did not demand more violence be piled up. Which led us to other ways of being together, other horizons of possible futures. Ima...
overland.org.au
December 17, 2025 at 12:24 AM
“But it’s also that this land, this beautiful Aboriginal land, was not made to hold such grief. It can, and it does, but it shouldn’t have this burden thrust upon itself.”
@jordanas.bsky.social on the logic of violence that permeates Australia.
@jordanas.bsky.social on the logic of violence that permeates Australia.