A mirror for life's 'goings on'

 

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

 

Born in 1903 to Cuban parents living in France, Nin spent some of her early years in France, Spain and Cuba but lived most of her life in the United States where she established her writing credentials.  Although largely ignored until the late 1960s, today she is regarded as a major 20^th Century writer, led by her multi-volume The Diary of Anais Nin.   She also wrote 7 novels, 5 books of short stories, and 5 nonfiction books.

 

A proponent of journaling (hers spanned more than 60 years from age 11 until her death at age 74), she gave the writing world a prime example of the craft and how it can 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.”