Sally Rooney, the bestselling and award-winning Irish author, will no longer be distributed by Faber & Faber due to her support for Palestine Action, the author has said.
According to Faber & Faber, British antiterrorism legislation means it cannot pass on earnings to her from her book sales.
Rooney’s Normal People has now sold more than one million copies in the UK alone while her first novel, Conversations with Friends, and Beautiful World, Where Are You have each sold more than 500,000 copies.
Palestine Action is a pro-Palestinian direct action group that was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the British government in July 2025. After the group was banned, Rooney, who lives in Co Mayo, said she would use proceeds from her sales to support Palestine Action. Supporting organisations banned under the UK’s Terrorism Act is an offence and she subsequently cancelled a trip to the UK to pick up an award, for fear of arrest.
In August 2025, Rooney wrote an opinion piece in The Irish Times with the headline: “I support Palestine Action. If this makes me a ‘supporter of terror’ under UK law, so be it”.
In a statement on Wednesday, 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.
Sally Rooney’s books on sale in Hodges Figgis, Dawson Street, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill / The Irish Times
“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.”
In a separate statement also issued on Wednesday, the publisher said: “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.
“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. We have no further comment at this time.”
Books currently in the UK market can sell through and do not need to be returned.
Rooney had previously warned her books could disappear from UK stores and the publication of new works in the UK could be prevented.