Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, shown last October, has been a champion of freedom of expression. (Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press)

Canadian writer Margaret Atwood has cancelled her appearance at a Dubai literary festival after organizers cancelled the launch of a book by British writer Geraldine Bedell.

Dubai's International Festival of Literature objected to a story line involving homosexuality in Bedell's The Gulf Between Us, according to the author.

Atwood, who has been active in PEN, an organization that supports freedom of expression, has sent a letter to the festival saying she cannot attend its inaugural event because of the "regrettable turn of events surrounding" the book.

"I was greatly looking forward to the festival, and to the chance to meet readers there; but, as an International Vice President of PEN — an organization concerned with the censorship of writers — I cannot be part of the festival this year," Atwood said in the letter, posted on her website.

Atwood is a poet, literary critic and author of The Handmaid's Tale, The Blind Assassin and Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth.

Festival director Isobel Abulhoul called Atwood's decision to withdraw "regrettable."

Authors Frank McCourt, Louis de Bernieres and Jung Chang are also scheduled to attend the Dubai festival.

Bedell's The Gulf Between Us, set in the Persian Gulf, will be launched in Britain in April.

The story of a single mother raising three children in the fictional Gulf state of Hawar, the novel includes a minor character who is gay.

Bedell said festival organizers didn't directly address the issue of homosexuality in cancelling her appearance, but told her the novel would "offend certain cultural sensitivities."

Bedell, a journalist for the British Observer newspaper, says the novel, a romantic comedy, also questions some tenets of Islam.

Dubai has invested heavily in culture in the past two years, launching a film festival and building museums and concert venues.

However, Western arts and entertainment sometimes clashes with conservative Muslim values.

With files from the Canadian Press