CMAT, Jessie Buckley and Gary Lineker were among dozens of high-profile figures to sign the letter. Alamy Stock Photo
sally rooney
The signatories also include three Nobel literature laureates and a number of Irish writers.
THE TWO LEAD stars and director of the television adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People have joined a host of major cultural figures in signing an open letter supporting the Irish author.
Paul Mescal, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Lenny Abrahamson are among the signatories to the letter, which declares: “Sally Rooney is a writer, not a terrorist. Her books must be available to the public.”
Mescal and Edgar-Jones rose to international prominence playing Connell and Marianne in the acclaimed series based on Rooney’s novel, while Abrahamson directed six of its 12 episodes.
The letter, published by the New Statesman today, describes the withdrawal of Rooney’s work from supply in the UK as an affront to freedom of speech and calls on the British government to amend the anti-terror legislation which led to what the signatories call a “repressive absurdity”.
A number of leading Irish cultural figures have backed the letter, including Jessie Buckley, CMAT, Kneecap, Marian Keyes, Colm Tóibín, Colum McCann, Anne Enright, Anna Burns, Naoise Dolan, Nicole Flattery and Sharon Horgan.
The signatories also include three Nobel literature laureates: Anne Carson, Annie Ernaux and JM Coetzee.
Other high-profile supporters include actors Tilda Swinton and Susan Sarandon, former footballer and commentator Gary Lineker, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, filmmaker Jonathan Glazer and Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja.
Authors Zadie Smith, Arundhati Roy, Julian Barnes, Jeanette Winterson and Irvine Welsh have also signed.
Rooney’s publisher, Faber, announced last week that it would no longer supply her work in the UK in any format because of her support for Palestine Action.
The direct-action group, known for targeting sites connected to the arms industry and Israel, was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the British government last year.
Rooney had prevously said she intends to use earnings from her books and television adaptations to support the group.
Faber said existing British legislation meant it could not pass UK earnings to Rooney and that selling her books without paying her would be “unconscionable”.
The decision to stop supplying the books was made with Rooney’s agreement.
Her books have not been formally banned in the UK and shops can continue selling copies they already have in stock. However, retailers cannot order new stock from Faber.
The open letter categorically rejects what it describes as” direct or indirect” censorship and urges the British government to change the law.
“Their withdrawal from sale, on the basis of ill-conceived and draconian anti-terror legislation, is an affront to basic principles of free speech and expression so long taken for granted in this country,” it states.