Anais Nin

I'm fascinated by Anais Nin - her writing, her life, her affairs and her unique way of perception. In her preface to Delta of Venus, she writes about the different ways men and women view sex - and how she as a female writer blends poetry and lyricism into her erotic writing. She sets up Delta with a series of her diary entries, detailing a collector requesting erotic literature. For a dollar a page, she writes short stories of sexual encounters, but is told to cut out the poetry and skip to the details - her commissioner wants nothing but emotionless and lifeless descriptions. In her books and her diaries, she writes of affairs and romances fuelled by poetics of the body, of emotion and the lyricism of sex and love, the two inextricably linked and coexisting as an art form. Not only are her affairs a work of art, but she documents her life into it's own art form, through her diaries; published in seven volumes and spanning from her first diary at age 11, to her death in 1977.

Her most notable relationship was with Henry Miller, fellow writer of eroticism, and pioneer in American Literature. Henry and Anais (amongst others) revolutionised the novel, creating a text that blended fictional narrative, philosophical discourse, and autobiography. The two were also lovers, and maintained a long friendship. 

                                      

Here's an interview taken from a documentary, including a clip of Henry and Anais sitting and discussing dream psychology.

I'm now watching Henry & June, a film based on the diaries of Anais Nin and exploring her relationship with Henry and his wife. It's beautifully directed and stars a young Uma Thurman who is so amazing :')

 ~so sexy ugh~