Róisín Ingle: I have a list in my head of unwritten letters. Now I will write them

George Bernard Shaw wrote a lot of letters in his lifetime. Many of them were short, grumpy notes turning down invitations for social events or speaking gigs or gala dinners.

My favourite narky “no thank you” letter of his, and there are lots to choose from, was written after the Pygmalion writer was invited to address a branch of the Labour Party in Britain. “It would be easier and pleasanter to drown myself,” was his one sentence reply in that 1922 letter. If we’re honest, many of us would like to respond this way to certain invitations but would never have the nerve.

Shaun Usher of Letters of Note has done a great service with his books and online curation of interesting letters through the centuries. This is where I came across George Bernard Shaw’s gloriously truculent ripostes, along with a 1953 letter from author Shirley Jackson in respon...
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