UK Bars How to Blow Up a Pipeline Author Andreas Malm From Entry

Andreas Malm, the Swedish writer best known for How to Blow Up a Pipeline, can't come to Britain to talk about his work this week. UK immigration officials told him his presence "may not be considered to be conducive to the public good," The Guardian reported on October 30.

Malm teaches human ecology at Lund University in Sweden. He was booked for several London appearances: the launch of a new issue of the magazine Tribune, an academic conference and a BBC interview, according to Tribune, which organised the launch.

The publisher's response

Verso Books has published Malm in English for a decade, and it put out a statement within a day. "Never in over 55 years of publishing has a British government revoked the right of one of our authors to enter the country," the press said, in a statement signed by board chair Tariq Ali. Verso said no reasons had been given and asked the government to restore the authorisation. It also noted that past governments "have banned books, but not authors."

The Home Office doesn't comment on individual cases. In a statement to Al Jazeera, it said decisions like this one rest "solely on an assessment of the potential risk an individual may pose to UK society." The department told Malm he could apply for a visitor visa instead. Standard processing takes about three weeks, Al Jazeera noted, which is too slow for this week's dates.

Why the event mattered

The Tribune panel was set for November 4. Malm was due to sit alongside Huda Ammori, a co-founder of Palestine Action, the group the UK has proscribed. The two were expected to talk about the effects of that ban, the Guardian said, including on Sally Rooney, who has withdrawn her books from sale in the UK. Malm told Al Jazeera that the panel was the only thing he could think of that explains the decision, since he hadn't said or written anything in public on the subject since May.

"I have always considered the UK a centre of the world of ideas, where differences in opinions and scientific approaches can be aired freely," he told Tribune. He said he'd done the archival research for his PhD in Britain and has lectured at dozens of its universities.

The books

How to Blow Up a Pipeline came out from Verso in 2021. It's a short polemic that asks whether the climate movement should go beyond peaceful protest and target fossil fuel property, and it was loosely adapted into a feature film of the same name that premiered in 2022. Verso also publishes Fossil Capital, his history of how British industry turned to coal and steam power, and The Progress of This Storm. Verso's statement says his books "have won international awards."

The books themselves are not affected. They stay on sale in Britain, and nothing in the Home Office notice touches them. What's changed is that their author can't appear in person to discuss them.

What it means for authors and events

What the Home Office cancelled was his Electronic Travel Authorisation, or ETA, Al Jazeera reported. Malm had used an ETA on a visit in May and had no warning it was at risk, he told the outlet. Tribune said lawyers told it the cancellation effectively bans him from entry for now.

That matters to festivals, bookshops and universities that bring in writers from visa-free countries. Those authors travel on an ETA, and the Malm case shows one can be withdrawn days before an event with little explanation. Times Higher Education reported that the decision has drawn criticism from academics.

Tribune and Verso both say they'll press for the decision to be reversed. Malm hasn't said whether he'll apply for a visa or seek a review.