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Saturday Magazine

28 Jul 2024

Saturday 27th July, 2024 Sarah Polkinghorne, PhD, RMIT, State Library of Victoria Controversy of ‘Neutrality’

Current Affairs, Interview, Joy, Joy 94.9, Joy Media, Media, News & Politics, Podcast, Saturday Magazine, Society & Culture

Saturday 27th July, 2024 Sarah Polkinghorne, PhD, RMIT, State Library of Victoria Controversy of ‘Neutrality’

Macca and Fiona talk to Sarah Polkinghorne, PhD,Research Fellow, Social Change Enabling Impact Platform, Research and Innovation Portfolio, School of Global, Urban & Social Studies | RMIT University

State Library of Victoria Controversy

https://theconversation.com/the-state-library-of-victoria-controversy-shows-what-can-happen-when-institutions-cling-to-neutrality-235004

For months now, the State Library of Victoria’s official explanation for the “postponement” of its Teen Writing Bootcamp workshops has been the need to ensure safety for all involved.

The bootcamps benefit youth across the country. The State Library hires writers with diverse expertise and experiences to teach them. In March, authors Omar Sakr, Alison Evans and Jinghua Qian, all of whom have all been vocal critics of Israel’s war in Gaza, were taken aback when they were informed their workshops had been cancelled, a week before they were due to give them.

The library explained the unexpected postponement was a result of it “taking its obligations for safety of participants, presenters and facilitators very seriously” in “a time of heightened sensitivities”. It has promised the bootcamps will be rescheduled, though there is still no indication when that might be.

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