Dozens of leading artists, writers and actors have signed an open letter defending the Irish novelist Sally Rooney after her publisher withdrew her books from sale in the United Kingdom. The letter appears on the cover of this week's New Statesman and condemns the British anti-terror legislation behind the ban as a "repressive absurdity."

Among the signatories are artists John Akomfrah and Ben Rivers, alongside film director Jonathan Glazer, actors Tilda Swinton, Paul Mescal, Susan Sarandon and Daisy Edgar-Jones, and writers Zadie Smith, Arundhati Roy, Naomi Klein, J.M. Coetzee, Patricia Lockwood and Ben Lerner, as well as philosopher Slavoj Žižek, broadcaster Gary Lineker, musician Kate Nash and the Irish hip-hop group Kneecap.

The dispute stems from Rooney's public support for Palestine Action, the pro-Palestinian direct-action group that the UK government has designated a terrorist organisation. Her publisher, Faber & Faber, announced earlier this month that it could no longer pass UK earnings to Rooney and would stop supplying her books, saying that continuing sales would place the company in an untenable legal position. Rooney has said that further publication of her work could constitute a serious criminal offence.

The letter insists Rooney is a writer, not a terrorist, and argues that withdrawing her books under draconian anti-terror legislation is an affront to free speech and expression. It urges the government to change course and amend the law.

The intervention comes two weeks before the Supreme Court is due to hear a case on the proscription of Palestine Action — a ruling that could reshape the legal landscape around protest and publishing in Britain. Both physical and e-book editions of Rooney's work have been pulled from UK retail channels, though some copies remain in bookshops.