More than 50 authors withdraw from Bendigo Writers Festival and celebrating the best poetry of the century

More than 50 writers pulled out of the Bendigo Writers Festival over the weekend, as did the festival's official bookshop, after organisers sent a code of conduct to some speakers less than 2 days before the festival was due to begin.

The code included advice that speakers 'avoid language or topics that could be considered inflammatory, divisive, or disrespectful'. It also included the Universities Australia definition of anti-Semitism.

Randa Abdel-Fattah, one of the festival headliners, explains why she was one of the first to withdraw. And journalist Alex McKinnon shares his reporting about behind-the-scenes lobbying ahead of the event.

And in the middle of Poetry Month and with voting for the Top 100 books set to kick off in September, poet and author Maxine Beneba Clarke shares her favourite poems of the Century so far and reflects on the enduring power of the form

Our track of the week is The Highway Knows by Molly Tuttle.