Sally Rooney speaks onstage during an event on January 17, 2020 in Pasadena, California. Erik Voake/Getty Images
Irish novelist Sally Rooney skipped an awards ceremony in London, saying that she risked being arrested under terror laws due to her support for the banned activist group Palestine Action .
Rooney’s editor Alex Bowler read her statement at the Sky Arts Awards on Tuesday, where the author’s fourth book “Intermezzo” won the award for literature.
“I wish I could be here with you this evening to accept the honor in person,” her statement read, “but, because of my support for non-violent anti-war protest, I’m advised I can no longer safely enter the UK without potentially facing arrest.”
Rooney reiterated her “belief in the dignity and beauty of all human life, and my sol