Dozens of writers and actors have signed, on the cover of the New Statesman, an open letter for Sally Rooney. Her books have been withdrawn from sale in the United Kingdom. A letter and a publisher's withdrawal. Not a verdict.

"Sally Rooney is a writer, not a terrorist. Her books must be available to the public," the text says. The withdrawal, on the basis of anti-terror legislation, is a "repressive absurdity", the signatories write. They urge the government to change course. Among them: Paul Mescal, Tilda Swinton, Arundhati Roy, Naomi Klein, J.M. Coetzee, Zadie Smith, Jonathan Glazer, Kneecap.

Faber said on Wednesday that it cannot pass UK earnings to Rooney. To keep selling would be, for a publisher, an unconscionable situation. Rooney: further publication could be a serious criminal offence. That is her position, after consultation. Not a conviction. E-books have been taken down. Some paper copies remain in bookshops.

The British government banned Palestine Action in July 2025, as a terrorist organisation. In Ireland, where Rooney lives, the group is not banned. Al Jazeera: the letter comes two weeks before the Supreme Court is to hear a case on the ban. A hearing, not a sentence.

Rooney has written that she is prepared to accept the consequences. That is a statement. Not a closed case.

A cover and a publisher that has stopped. Not a verdict.

Image: Dietmar Rabich, Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, London, 10 October 2016, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; the building in 2016, not the 2026 hearing.

Sources consulted: Actors, writers condemn UK anti-terror law targeting Sally Rooney - Al Jazeera, 21 October 2026; Sally Rooney is a writer, not a terrorist - New Statesman, 21 October 2026.