The protesting Bendigo Writers Festival participantsKate Larsen, the co-author of this article with fellow panellists Madison Griffiths with Cher Tan, are among the writers to have withdrawn in protest to date. Bendigo Writers Festival is owned and operated by the City of Greater Bendigo). Bendigo Writers Festival’s official bookseller cancels partnershipAccording to Bendigo Writers Festival’s message to its Festival partners on Thursday, ‘Canberra Writers Festival, Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival, Australian Short Story Festival, and National Young Writers Festival all have Codes of Conduct’. Bendigo Writers Festival provided ArtsHub with the following statement shortly after publication and the article has been updated accordingly: ‘Bendigo Writers Festival is committed to holding an event that engages in respectful debate, open minded discussion, and explores topical and complex issues. This article was updated after publication, at 3:13pm AEST, to include Bendigo Writers Festival’s statement and the details provided about the number of Festival events impacted by writers withdrawing from the program.