Popular children's writers Chris Haughton and Nicola Davies have pledged to donate their royalties to fellow author Sally Rooney, after her books were pulled from circulation over her vow to use proceeds from her work to support Palestine Action.
Rooney had said that proceeds from her books would be used to support the group, which has been proscribed as a "terrorist" organisation in the United Kingdom since July 2025.
The proscription has put the direct action group on the same legal footing as groups like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, and has led to the arrests of thousands of protesters for allegedly expressing support for Palestine Action -- a charge which carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
By pledging financial support to the group, the Irish author risks similar prosecution under UK law.
Haughton, who is Ireland's children's laureate, described the situation as a "farce".
“I really want to express my full support for Sally Rooney. As someone who is in the UK a lot of the time, I can’t do what she has done, but I can support her instead of supporting Palestine Action," he told The Guardian.
“The entire situation is just a farce. Sending Sally Rooney the money adds another level of absurdity to this absurd situation, it’s making a mockery of the law.”
Davies, who is Wales's children's laureate, said that her advocacy for children was the reason she had to speak up for Rooney.
“I can’t say that I am standing up for the children of Wales if I allow the children of Gaza to be murdered and mutilated without comment," she said.
"Gaza is smaller than the Welsh county of Flintshire, and it’s as if all Wales’s children were concentrated there and being bombed."
She added that she will donate her half-year royalties from the book "The Day War Came", which she said had been boosted in sales "by the conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine".
Since the UK's ban on Palestine Action, thousands of protesters have been arrested for allegedly expressing support for the group.
Last week, prominent arts figures signed an open letter published in The New Statesman expressing solidarity with Rooney. Among them were Zadie Smith, Ahdaf Soueif, Arundhati Roy and Nobel Prize-winning writer Annie Ernaux, alongside actors Paul Mescal, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Tilda Swinton and Susan Sarandon.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has so far resisted calls for the ban on Palestine Action to be repealed, however the UK's Supreme Court will hear an appeal on 4-5 November.