Renewing our perception

“The role of a writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say.” – Anaïs Nin

Anaïs Nin was largely ignored as a writer until the 1960s. Today she is regarded as one of the leading women writers of the 20th-century and a source of inspiration for women challenging conventionally defined gender roles.

 

 Anaïs Nin

Born in 1903 to Cuban parents living in France, she spent some time in Spain and Cuba but lived most of her life in the United States where she became an established author, mostly through writing journals spanning more than 60 years from age 11 up until her death at age 74.     She is yet another great example of the value of journal writing and how it can shape the writings of generations as well as provide a mirror on the day-to-day goings on in the world around us.

“It is the function of art and writing to renew our perception,” she said.  “What we are familiar with we cease to see. The writer shakes up the familiar scene, and, as if by magic, we see a new meaning in it.”

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