Sally Rooney's books will no longer be published in UK due to her support for Palestine Action

PUBLISHER FABER HAS said it will no longer distribute Irish author Sally Rooney’s books in the UK due to her support for Palestine Action. 

In a statement, Faber said current legislation in the UK has led to circumstances where it cannot pass on UK earnings to Rooney for her work.

“To sell a writer’s work and not be able to pass on earnings is an unconscionable situation for a publisher,” it said. 

“As such, and in full agreement with Sally, we have taken the decision that we can no longer supply her works in the UK in any format. We remain the proud publisher of her remarkable body of work, which we will continue to sell in other territories.”

Palestine Action is a direct action group that was founded in 2020.

It has been protesting the UK’s export of arms to Israel, as well as Israel’s war on Gaza and treatment of Palestinians, through actions like demonstrations, building occupations and vandalism of properties it believes to have links to arms sales to Israel.

The UK declared the group a terrorist organisation last July after it claimed responsibility for spray-painting two Voyager planes at an RAF base the previous month.

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Since then, hundreds of people have been arrested in the UK for showing their support for it. In June, the UK’s Court of Appeal ruled that the government’s proscription of Palestine Action as a terror organisation was lawful.

Rooney, best known for her novels Normal People and Conversations with Friends, has publicly declared her support for Palestine Action. 

Writing in the Irish Times last August, the Mayo author said she supports it and its protesting of Israel’s violence against Palestine, and that she would use proceeds from her work to support the group.

In a statement this afternoon, Rooney said: “In July 2025, the direct-action protest group Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK.

“The following month, I wrote an opinion piece expressing my intention to go on supporting Palestine Action, which is not a proscribed or otherwise prohibited group here in the Republic of Ireland.

“As a result, the fulfilment of contracts to publish my work in the UK could now constitute a serious criminal offence. After a process of consultation and deliberation, and with my full agreement, my publisher Faber has therefore determined that it can no longer supply my work within the UK.

I have made every effort to be honest with the public about my beliefs and intentions, and I am wholly prepared to accept the consequences.

Rooney had previously warned that her books could be withdrawn from sale in the UK and that publication of new works there could be prevented. 

Last year, she won the Sky Arts Award for literature for her fourth novel, Intermezzo, but was unable to collect her award after she said she could no longer “safely enter the UK without potentially facing arrest” due to her support for Palestine Action.