THE PEN CONGRESS
SIR,—I would not, for a minute, set the exient of my acquaintance with writers against Mr. Roberts's. I would, however, like to point out three facts which are relevant to his letter in your last week's issue:
2. The attributes 'vain, temperamental, anarchistic and petty' are not the same as 'nasty, boring or unkind.' A writer may be—and many writers are—delightful to know while yet suffering from all those defects. Mr. Roberts may remember that I said they were vices contingent upon talent. It is vain to talk too much about your own work, temperamental to take offence from critics, anarchistic to be con- stantly late, and petty to mind about the blurb on a dustcover. But how many writers, including those who are not mem- bers of PEN, do none of these things?
3. The title—'No Go the Merry-Go-Round' —was not mine.
I would like to add that, in spite of all, I enjoyed the PEN Congress, that I attended it throughout the week from morning to dusk, and that Mr. MacNeice's teeth arc strikingly irregular.—Yours faithfully, 13 Clareville Grove, SW7
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