Brett Whitford (or B Beaumont Whitford as he sometimes styles himself) is a man whose star is on the rise.
Few had heard of him just two weeks ago, but since launching a campaign against Australia’s biggest regional writers festival, questions are now being asked in New South Wales Parliament on his behalf, and his story has catapulted him into the far-right podcast eco-system.
His campaign against the festival has found allies like NSW upper house MP Mark Latham and host of the far-right 2 Worlds Collide podcast, Sam Bamford, telling both that he is a professor or emeritus professor.
Both Latham and Bamford have taken up Whitford’s cause, after he accused Byron Writers Festival of censoring him and keeping him off their program because of his right-wing, libertarian and manosphere-style views. He says the decision not to program him is unfair, in part, because of his long list of literary and academic achievements.
Writers festivals have recently become extremely vulnerable to political attacks. In the last year, Adelaide and Bendigo were both cancelled and their long-term futures called into question, after political pressure, writer boycotts over freedom of speech and corporate media campaigns.
Whitford’s campaign against Byron and his ability to enlist conservative politicians and media figures are testing the boundaries of what culture wars can be fought in this new arena.
The first time most people in publishing had ever come across him was two Fridays ago, when he sent an email to over 100 prominent authors, journalists, publishers and literary agents. In it, he urged them to come out publicly against the Byron Writers Festival.
