Sally Rooney, the bestselling Irish author of books including Normal People and Intermezzo, has said her novels will no longer be supplied to U.K. booksellers because of her support for the group Palestine Action.
Palestine Action is a proscribed terrorist organization in the U.K. It was proscribed by the U.K. government in July of 2025, which said that the group had a long history of criminal damage.
The group has targeted companies linked to Israel’s war in Gaza with direct action intended to disrupt.
Rooney has been vocal in her support for the group, and said that she intended to use, and continue to use, royalties from her books to support the group.
The month after Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organization, Rooney wrote a 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,” she said in a statement shared with Newsweek over email.
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“As a result, the fulfilment of contracts to publish my work in the UK could now constitute a serious criminal offence,” Rooney said.
Her publisher, Faber, said in a statement that they remain the “proud publisher of her remarkable body of work.”
Rooney has sold millions of books globally.
She has published four books: 2017’s Conversations with Friends, 2019’s Normal People, 2021’s Beautiful World Where Are You and 2024’s Intermezzo, as well as the 2019 short story, Mr Salary.
Her first two books were adapted into television miniseries. Normal People was longlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize and the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction. The publication of Intermezzo in 2024 was described by Faber & Faber as its “biggest trade campaign ever,” and saw them partner with 40 bookshops.
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Ebook editions of her work have already been removed from sale in the U.K.
Many bookshops have existing stock of physical copies. The bookshop Waterstones confirmed to the BBC that Faber had advised them that there is no restriction on keeping current copies on shelves.
It is currently unclear if this will have any bearing on the publication of Rooney’s books in the U.S.
Her 2018 book, Normal People, had previously been banned in some U.S. schools due to moral objections over sexual content, according to the PEN American Index of School Book Bans.
Newsweek has contacted Rooney’s U.S. publisher via email for comment.
Why Is Palestine Action a Proscribed Terrorist Group in the U.K.?
Palestine Action was founded in 2020 and has engaged in a series of direct-action protests since then, primarily against arms manufacturers who sell weapons to Israel and operate in the U.K.
The group was banned by the government after several of its members were accused of breaking into an Oxfordshire RAF base to spray-paint military planes.
Former home secretary Yvette Cooper said when announcing the ban in 2025 that this was the latest in a “long history of unacceptable criminal damage.”
Proscription means it is illegal to be a member of Palestine Action or solicit support for it. That constitutes an offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
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Over 3,000 people have been arrested on suspicion of publicly showing support for Palestine Action since the ban.
The decision to use terrorism powers to ban a group that is primarily known for disruption and property damage was unprecedented.
The ruling has been challenged.
In February of this year, a High Court ruled that it was disproportionate and unlawful, but that ruling was overturned in June by the Court of Appeal.
The ban continues to be in force, and the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a further appeal in November.
Section 15 of the Terrorism Act in Britain makes it an offense if a person “provides money or other property and knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that it will or may be used for the purposes of terrorism.”
Full Statements from Sally Rooney and Faber
“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,” Rooney wrote in her statement, shared with Newsweek via email.
“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.”
“I have no further comment at this time,” she concluded in the statement.
Her publisher, Faber, also issued a statement.
“Current legislation in the UK has led to circumstances where Faber cannot pass on UK earnings to Sally 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,” the statement, issued on October 14, read.
“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 countries.”
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Gray R. Thomas