Writer’s block

Sir, – I was fascinated to read in Frank McNally's article on Joe Mitchell that the latter had suffered from a writer's block which lasted 32 years. However, the man was only trotting along behind Henry Roth, whose masterpiece Call it Sleep appeared in 1934, to be followed by A Star Shines over Mt Morris Park in 1994. He did, however, weaken somewhat in 1987, when a small collection of essays was allowed into print. Yours, etc,

ALAN O’BRIEN,

Barnhill Avenue,

Dalkey,

Co Dublin