Calls for solidarity with author Sally Rooney after her novels are withdrawn over alleged support for Palestine Action
(Chris Boland / www.chrisboland.com)
Bookshops in Britain can no longer order new copies of novels by Irish author Sally Rooney. Publisher Faber announced that, in full agreement with the author, it had decided to stop supplying her works to the UK in any format, while continuing to sell them in other markets.
As a result, the shelves of British bookshops will no longer carry works by one of the most widely read novelists of her generation, including Normal People, Conversations with Friends and Intermezzo.
The publisher explained that current legislation in Britain had left it unable to transfer sales royalties to the author, describing the sale of a writer’s work without paying them as a situation that no publisher with a conscience could accept.
The story dates back to the summer of 2025, when the British government banned Palestine Action and proscribed it as a terrorist organisation. According to Irish media reports, Rooney wrote an article for The Irish Times in August that year, announcing her intention to continue supporting the group with the proceeds from her work, noting that it was not banned in the Republic of Ireland.
In her latest statement, Rooney said that fulfilling publishing contracts for her work in Britain could now constitute a serious criminal offence. She added that she had made every effort to be honest with the public about her convictions and was fully prepared to face the consequences.
The decision did not come as a complete surprise. In evidence submitted to the High Court in London in late 2025, Rooney had already warned that legal uncertainty over whether her publisher could pay her royalties might lead to her books being withdrawn from the British market. Last year, she also won the Sky Arts Award for Literature for her fourth novel, but was unable to collect the prize because she could no longer safely enter Britain without risking arrest.
The Legal and Government Position
In June, the Court of Appeal ruled that the ban on Palestine Action was lawful, overturning an earlier High Court ruling issued in February 2026 that had declared the ban unlawful. Under the ban, membership of or support for the group is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The government maintains that those wishing to oppose the ban have always been free to do so through peaceful means without breaking the law. Meanwhile, Huda Ammori, the group’s co-founder, intends to take the legal challenge to the UK Supreme Court and, if necessary, to the European Court of Human Rights.
Wave of Solidarity
The decision has sparked widespread reactions across cultural and human rights circles. Huda Ammori said that preventing Rooney from publishing her work in Britain represented an unprecedented level of suppression of freedom of expression, arguing that her work should be celebrated and remain accessible to everyone. Northern Irish hip-hop group Kneecap also expressed solidarity with the author, while MP Jeremy Corbyn described the withdrawal of her books as further evidence of the absurdity of the ban.
Calls are growing among readers and Palestine supporters for people to stand with the author and ensure her books remain available in homes and libraries. For many, the case has become a test of literary freedom and a writer’s right to express her convictions.
Not the First Time
Rooney, now 35, has a history of taking a stand in support of Palestinian rights. In 2021, she refused to sign a deal with an Israeli publisher to translate her third novel into Hebrew. In response, Israel’s two major bookstore chains, Steimatzky and Tzomet Sfarim, stopped selling her books.
At the time, the Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem announced that it had ordered additional copies of her books following a surge in interest sparked by her stance.
Once again, Rooney finds her books disappearing from the shelves of another country, this time because her publisher has decided to act in response to Britain’s anti-terrorism legislation.
How Can Readers in Britain Get Hold of Sally Rooney’s Books?
Despite the suspension of new supplies, readers still have several ways to access Rooney’s work.
First: Existing bookshop stock. Waterstones has confirmed that it can continue selling copies already in stock, while The Guardian reported that her books were still available in some London bookshops. Readers can check the websites of major and independent booksellers, including Waterstones, Foyles, Blackwell’s and Bookshop.org, before stocks run out.
Second: Second-hand copies. Used editions of her novels are available through second-hand book platforms such as World of Books, the Oxfam online shop, AbeBooks, eBay and Vinted.
Third: Public libraries. Public libraries retain physical copies acquired before the decision. Readers can search for and reserve these books through their local library’s online catalogue.
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